The latest claim is that the money was not stolen by the finance minister after all:
Zimbabwe's central bank governor has admitted authorising a bank transfer by the country's former finance minister who is on trial for corruption, a newspaper said on Saturday.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono, who is spearheading an anti-corruption drive, was speaking at the trial of Chris Kuruneri, accused of siphoning scarce foreign currency out of the country.
Relating the circumstances of the money transfer in the Harare High Court Friday, Gono said Kuruneri had actually saved the country from a "national catastrophe", the state-controlled Herald said.
Kuruneri is charged with illegally transferring R5,2-million out of the country between 2002 and 2004 through a local commercial bank, which Gono headed
before becoming central bank governor. Kuruneri denies any wrongdoing.
In his testimony on Friday, Gono said it was he who had asked Kuruneri to lend the commercial bank 500 000 dollars in 2002 in the national interest.
The bank later authorised the transfer of an equivalent sum in South African rands to Kuruneri's accounts in South Africa, the Herald said.
Of course, what was the urgent national interest has not yet been explained...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Vast majority of Brits think aid money is wasted...
LINK
I'm not the only one who thinks that politicians will merely steal aid money...and given the "oil for food" money scandal, it seems that such scandals are not limited to the third world...
I'm not the only one who thinks that politicians will merely steal aid money...and given the "oil for food" money scandal, it seems that such scandals are not limited to the third world...
The darkness behind the light
LINK
is a story of exorcism causing child abuse...
The abuse is to rid the child of an ancestral spirit, not to punish the child...
But what is important is that to understand much of what is going on in Africa, you need to understand that there is a deepseated belief in the supernatural...This comes out in the deep religious faith of the people, but it also comes out in the belief in witchcraft, and that ordinary people can be harmed by spells cast by witches.
Now, what I am writing may not be absolutely correct (I am a physician, not an anthropologist) and it may have some false generalizations...but nevertheless, unless one sees the deeper and darker parts of culture, one may not see the entire story...
In marginal societies, one is very close to famine, illness, sickness, and death (things we Westerners ignore)...so in rural areas, there are strict rules to behavior...alas, in cities, such rules disintegrate into a collapse of both traditions and morality...so you get anarchy, gangs, alcohol, drugs, promiscuity...and witchcraft...
In our rural areas, when the personal stresses became too much, you would see cases of "conversion hysteria"...one rarely sees such cases nowadays in the USA(Although Freud reported many in sexually repressed Victorian times, such cases now are rare in American society that too often ignores rules)...but such cases were common in Zimbabwe.
and example: One of our cooks was a girl taken in and given a job by our mission...she ran away from home when her father arranged for her to be a third wife of a rich old man, developed hyperventillation and hysterical paralysis of her arms when she found he was suing the mission to get her back...
But sometimes the hysteria comes out in anger and rage...there was a case told to me by one of the priests...this priest was (for lack of a better word) a schlamiel...but humble and greatly loved. One day, a woman came into church screaming obscenities, and so he blessed her and ordered the spirit to leave her...she collapsed and when she awoke she was fine...the priest asked if that was indeed spirit possession or if it was just hysteria...I said it really didn't matter, since his "treatment" worked...
But when the stresses in the community become too severe---and the stresses in cities and with modern society slowly destroying a culture, you get cracks...a person who is powerless and harmed will place a curse on the one harming him or her (usually it is a her)...so the troublemaker may find snakes in their hut, or find poison in their food (it is not unknown for a traditional chief to die of poisoning...presumably by one he had harmed)...
Most Americans know about "vodoo curses"...where a curse is placed on one who is harming you, or a person you harmed places a curse on you...and of course, this primitive vodoo is usually a joke (but before you laugh at such primitive thinking, remember the best seller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was about just such a curse...and that best selling book was about the elite in Savannah Georgia)...
Traditionally, it was the "witchdoctors" who treated curses (witchdoctors are not doctor-witches, but those who diagnose witchcraft)...but now often such treatments, aka exorcisms, are carried out in churches...In mainstream churches, there are superiors to the pastors that keep such things in check, as this article points out...
As a doctor, I'm like the pastor in the article, or like St. Teresa of Avila, who when hearing of some nuns "possessed" by the devil back in 1530, instructed that they needed a doctor, not a priest......and indeed, most of these cases are psychological...but one sees a spiritual aspect to this. Think Alcoholics anonymous rather than The Exorcist...but once in a great while, one feels the presence of pure evil in a patient ...I think I've felt it twice in thirty years, and the first time was with an African politician...
You see, in African tradition one does not seek to be better than one's neighbors...so to be powerful or rich, there is a suspicion that one has to be evil...and indeed, some businessmen and politicians hold ceremonies to betcome rich or powerful...usually animals are sacrificed... (think Santara, a religion followed by Castro, and which under him has flourished in Cuba)...but there have been cases where more power is sought, and humans are sacrificed...when I worked in Liberia, bodies of children would be found with genital mutilation, and the people knew that a new business would be built with the missing organs under the foundation...(The movies "Dingaka" and "The Believers" used this as the plot).
So what does all this have to do Mugabe?
Well, it is not unknown that tyrants use witchcraft ceremonies to stay in power and to intimidate their opponants. (Hitler and some of his henchmen were deeply into occultic practices, for example)...Idi Amin was deeply into witchcraft...and was only overthrown when the president of the neighboring country invaded and easily overthrew him...but before the invasion, he arranged a protection ceremony for his soldiers...
Is Mugabe into such things? I don't know...
But fear of witchcraft and being harmed by witches is deep in the culture...
It is something to remember: when you read that church leaders and educated people urge the local people to rise up and peacefully throw out the tyrant,...it is not merely fear of death that has to be overcome, but a deepseated fear of unknown evil...
Perhaps the answer, if you can't get South Africa to invade and end this tyranny, would be to have one of the Bishops go out with a cross or a statue of Our Lady, leading crowds praying and singing hymns...
This is what Cardinal Sin did in Manila, that lead to Marcos' overthrow...and there is even a local story that the reason Marcos' soldiers did not shoot the crowds was a beautiful lady in white appeared and told the soldiers "Do not shoot my children"...
That is the good news...the bad news is that similar, but less fervent, demonstrations did not stop the genocide in Ruanda nor in Bosnia...and unless there is a miracle of God's grace, one suspects it would not work in Harare or Bulawayo either...
is a story of exorcism causing child abuse...
The abuse is to rid the child of an ancestral spirit, not to punish the child...
But what is important is that to understand much of what is going on in Africa, you need to understand that there is a deepseated belief in the supernatural...This comes out in the deep religious faith of the people, but it also comes out in the belief in witchcraft, and that ordinary people can be harmed by spells cast by witches.
Now, what I am writing may not be absolutely correct (I am a physician, not an anthropologist) and it may have some false generalizations...but nevertheless, unless one sees the deeper and darker parts of culture, one may not see the entire story...
In marginal societies, one is very close to famine, illness, sickness, and death (things we Westerners ignore)...so in rural areas, there are strict rules to behavior...alas, in cities, such rules disintegrate into a collapse of both traditions and morality...so you get anarchy, gangs, alcohol, drugs, promiscuity...and witchcraft...
In our rural areas, when the personal stresses became too much, you would see cases of "conversion hysteria"...one rarely sees such cases nowadays in the USA(Although Freud reported many in sexually repressed Victorian times, such cases now are rare in American society that too often ignores rules)...but such cases were common in Zimbabwe.
and example: One of our cooks was a girl taken in and given a job by our mission...she ran away from home when her father arranged for her to be a third wife of a rich old man, developed hyperventillation and hysterical paralysis of her arms when she found he was suing the mission to get her back...
But sometimes the hysteria comes out in anger and rage...there was a case told to me by one of the priests...this priest was (for lack of a better word) a schlamiel...but humble and greatly loved. One day, a woman came into church screaming obscenities, and so he blessed her and ordered the spirit to leave her...she collapsed and when she awoke she was fine...the priest asked if that was indeed spirit possession or if it was just hysteria...I said it really didn't matter, since his "treatment" worked...
But when the stresses in the community become too severe---and the stresses in cities and with modern society slowly destroying a culture, you get cracks...a person who is powerless and harmed will place a curse on the one harming him or her (usually it is a her)...so the troublemaker may find snakes in their hut, or find poison in their food (it is not unknown for a traditional chief to die of poisoning...presumably by one he had harmed)...
Most Americans know about "vodoo curses"...where a curse is placed on one who is harming you, or a person you harmed places a curse on you...and of course, this primitive vodoo is usually a joke (but before you laugh at such primitive thinking, remember the best seller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was about just such a curse...and that best selling book was about the elite in Savannah Georgia)...
Traditionally, it was the "witchdoctors" who treated curses (witchdoctors are not doctor-witches, but those who diagnose witchcraft)...but now often such treatments, aka exorcisms, are carried out in churches...In mainstream churches, there are superiors to the pastors that keep such things in check, as this article points out...
As a doctor, I'm like the pastor in the article, or like St. Teresa of Avila, who when hearing of some nuns "possessed" by the devil back in 1530, instructed that they needed a doctor, not a priest......and indeed, most of these cases are psychological...but one sees a spiritual aspect to this. Think Alcoholics anonymous rather than The Exorcist...but once in a great while, one feels the presence of pure evil in a patient ...I think I've felt it twice in thirty years, and the first time was with an African politician...
You see, in African tradition one does not seek to be better than one's neighbors...so to be powerful or rich, there is a suspicion that one has to be evil...and indeed, some businessmen and politicians hold ceremonies to betcome rich or powerful...usually animals are sacrificed... (think Santara, a religion followed by Castro, and which under him has flourished in Cuba)...but there have been cases where more power is sought, and humans are sacrificed...when I worked in Liberia, bodies of children would be found with genital mutilation, and the people knew that a new business would be built with the missing organs under the foundation...(The movies "Dingaka" and "The Believers" used this as the plot).
So what does all this have to do Mugabe?
Well, it is not unknown that tyrants use witchcraft ceremonies to stay in power and to intimidate their opponants. (Hitler and some of his henchmen were deeply into occultic practices, for example)...Idi Amin was deeply into witchcraft...and was only overthrown when the president of the neighboring country invaded and easily overthrew him...but before the invasion, he arranged a protection ceremony for his soldiers...
Is Mugabe into such things? I don't know...
But fear of witchcraft and being harmed by witches is deep in the culture...
It is something to remember: when you read that church leaders and educated people urge the local people to rise up and peacefully throw out the tyrant,...it is not merely fear of death that has to be overcome, but a deepseated fear of unknown evil...
Perhaps the answer, if you can't get South Africa to invade and end this tyranny, would be to have one of the Bishops go out with a cross or a statue of Our Lady, leading crowds praying and singing hymns...
This is what Cardinal Sin did in Manila, that lead to Marcos' overthrow...and there is even a local story that the reason Marcos' soldiers did not shoot the crowds was a beautiful lady in white appeared and told the soldiers "Do not shoot my children"...
That is the good news...the bad news is that similar, but less fervent, demonstrations did not stop the genocide in Ruanda nor in Bosnia...and unless there is a miracle of God's grace, one suspects it would not work in Harare or Bulawayo either...
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Democide in Zimbabwe
Strategy page, which is pretty accurate at assessing wars, has a long post on the "democide" in Zimbabwe...it is not "genocide" but "democide", i.e. mass killing of civilians by a government...
The black markets have been a major source of food and other goods for the urban population. Without the black markets, the urban population will be totally dependent on the government for food. In the countryside, where the government still has some support (because of the distribution of land taken from white farmers), people can grow enough to feed themselves, but not the third of the 12 million population that lives in urban areas. Nearly all the farmers use primitive techniques, and live from harvest to harvest. One bad year, and starvation becomes a major factor. There is much disease, and the average life expectancy is 37 years.
There hasn’t been any revolution so far because the potential rebels cannot get guns. No one is willing to arm the dissatisfied majority, and over two thirds of the population lives in poverty. The ruling party is corrupt, and hands out what wealth is available only to those that actively support it. There are no large deposits of items like diamonds or gold, that are readily converted into cash. It was that kind of money that fueled the civil wars farther north, in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Religion is not a factor either, with less than one percent of the population being Moslem. Further north, irate Moslem populations have been armed by wealthier Arab nations.
The government seems determined to starve its enemies to death, secure in the knowledge that the victims are unarmed, and the government forces have lots of guns. It’s even difficult for the rest of the world to find out what’s going on, as foreign reporters were expelled years ago, and the local press is under strict government control. This story will only get reported after the dead are buried.
HMMM>>>>Charlton Heston call your office
The black markets have been a major source of food and other goods for the urban population. Without the black markets, the urban population will be totally dependent on the government for food. In the countryside, where the government still has some support (because of the distribution of land taken from white farmers), people can grow enough to feed themselves, but not the third of the 12 million population that lives in urban areas. Nearly all the farmers use primitive techniques, and live from harvest to harvest. One bad year, and starvation becomes a major factor. There is much disease, and the average life expectancy is 37 years.
There hasn’t been any revolution so far because the potential rebels cannot get guns. No one is willing to arm the dissatisfied majority, and over two thirds of the population lives in poverty. The ruling party is corrupt, and hands out what wealth is available only to those that actively support it. There are no large deposits of items like diamonds or gold, that are readily converted into cash. It was that kind of money that fueled the civil wars farther north, in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Religion is not a factor either, with less than one percent of the population being Moslem. Further north, irate Moslem populations have been armed by wealthier Arab nations.
The government seems determined to starve its enemies to death, secure in the knowledge that the victims are unarmed, and the government forces have lots of guns. It’s even difficult for the rest of the world to find out what’s going on, as foreign reporters were expelled years ago, and the local press is under strict government control. This story will only get reported after the dead are buried.
HMMM>>>>Charlton Heston call your office
Friday, June 03, 2005
UN and multinational firms fight hunger
the Christian Science Monitor has a long article and link to map showing hunger...and how corporations and the UN are fighting against malnutrition.
Read now, since link will probably disappear in a week.
Read now, since link will probably disappear in a week.
Yes, no, maybe
Again Mugabe nixes food aide...
they bought some food from S Africa...but not enough...so now it's no to the UN....
they bought some food from S Africa...but not enough...so now it's no to the UN....
2 million homeless due to gov't crackdowns
LINK
Nearly two million people in Zimbabwe's towns and cities have been left homeless, and a further 22,000 street traders have been arrested as President Robert Mugabe intensified a crackdown on opposition strongholds.
The 81-year-old President said bands of armed police - who have gone on the rampage in the past two weeks demolishing and burning down flea markets and other makeshift shop stalls, backyard shacks and informal settlements - are "cleaning up" the cities.
He also accused informal traders of involvement in the black market in foreign currency and other commodities in short supply.
Mugabe's critics complain he is pursuing a relentless campaign to crush all dissent and pre-empt any uprising on the back of the economic slump by hitting the same urban areas that largely voted against him in March elections.
The crackdown is also seen as punishment for urban voters who have rejected Mugabe's candidates in mayoral and parliamentary elections. He is mocked as "President of Zimbabwean rural areas".
Nearly two million people in Zimbabwe's towns and cities have been left homeless, and a further 22,000 street traders have been arrested as President Robert Mugabe intensified a crackdown on opposition strongholds.
The 81-year-old President said bands of armed police - who have gone on the rampage in the past two weeks demolishing and burning down flea markets and other makeshift shop stalls, backyard shacks and informal settlements - are "cleaning up" the cities.
He also accused informal traders of involvement in the black market in foreign currency and other commodities in short supply.
Mugabe's critics complain he is pursuing a relentless campaign to crush all dissent and pre-empt any uprising on the back of the economic slump by hitting the same urban areas that largely voted against him in March elections.
The crackdown is also seen as punishment for urban voters who have rejected Mugabe's candidates in mayoral and parliamentary elections. He is mocked as "President of Zimbabwean rural areas".
Radio Free Zimbabwe shuts down
LINK
SW Radio Africa - which broadcasts anti-Zimbabwe propaganda illegally from London - has stopped short-wave evening broadcasts after donor funds dried up and faces imminent collapse.
Although the illegal radio station claims that its transmission signal has been jammed by Zimbabwean authorities, the reason for its impending demise is purely donor fatigue.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
22 000 arrested
Mass arrests of those living in shanty towns...
Do you know how much it would cost the government to feed and house those arrested?
And what about the economic loss of the properties, many of which were actually legal?
Do you know how much it would cost the government to feed and house those arrested?
And what about the economic loss of the properties, many of which were actually legal?
The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party gains overwhelming support from urban areas, denounced the crackdown and repeated calls for people to mobilise resistance.
"Property worth millions of dollars has gone up in flames. Families are out in the open -- without jobs, without income, without shelter without support," Tsvangirai told a news conference. "Overnight, Zimbabwe has a massive internal refugee population in its urban areas."
Rights group Amnesty International also condemned the crackdown as a "flagrant disregard for internationally recognised human rights" and said people should be compensated for property destroyed by the government.
Mugabe's government says the campaign is meant to stamp out black market trading and other crime in slums around Harare and other cities.
Police have used sledgehammers and bulldozers to demolish thousands of illegal shacks and torched others, leaving residents scrambling to secure their possessions before their homes and businesses are destroyed.
Many of those displaced by the crackdown are seeking to return to their family homes in the countryside, although a desperate fuel shortage caused by Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis has made transport difficult.
Repeat after me: Krystalnacht...krystalnacht...Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Church reps slam war against poor
Church reps slam the razing of the shanty towns...
The government mouthpiece, The Sunday Mail, defended the action.
"The fact that the president has thrown his weight behind the clean-up must mean it is a well thought out programme," the newspaper said in an editorial.
Yup... the president is always correct..even if his greatly beloved people don't think so.....
And those whose homes were burned have started rioting
Hundreds of residents from one of Zimbabwe's townships rioted on Wednesday after police destroyed street stalls in an ongoing crackdown on vendors and other illegals in the capital, witnesses said.
Residents used old cars and scrap metal to set up roadblocks along the main road leading into Glen View suburb, a working class area south of the capital...
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka was quoted by the state and private media as saying that 10 114 people have so far been arrested, up from 9 725 arrested since last week, and that the crackdown launched a week ago would continue.
"We will continue to clear such illegal structures and we will not hesitate to arrest anyone involved in any illegal activities country wide," Mandipaka told the state-run Herald.
The government mouthpiece, The Sunday Mail, defended the action.
"The fact that the president has thrown his weight behind the clean-up must mean it is a well thought out programme," the newspaper said in an editorial.
Yup... the president is always correct..even if his greatly beloved people don't think so.....
And those whose homes were burned have started rioting
Hundreds of residents from one of Zimbabwe's townships rioted on Wednesday after police destroyed street stalls in an ongoing crackdown on vendors and other illegals in the capital, witnesses said.
Residents used old cars and scrap metal to set up roadblocks along the main road leading into Glen View suburb, a working class area south of the capital...
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka was quoted by the state and private media as saying that 10 114 people have so far been arrested, up from 9 725 arrested since last week, and that the crackdown launched a week ago would continue.
"We will continue to clear such illegal structures and we will not hesitate to arrest anyone involved in any illegal activities country wide," Mandipaka told the state-run Herald.
No fuel, no money, one passenger...
The economy is in shambles, and there are long gas lines...so why not let your airline take off with only one passenger?
To make it worse, it was not a local flight, but one to Dubai...
For once, Reuters has it right: They posted it under "oddly enough news"....
To make it worse, it was not a local flight, but one to Dubai...
For once, Reuters has it right: They posted it under "oddly enough news"....
Zimbabwe to nationalize all land
Remember a few days ago, when there was a proposal to invite back white farmers to help ease the crisis in food?
Well, forget it...now ALL land will be nationalized.
Nope. can't have rule of law..
Well, forget it...now ALL land will be nationalized.
| | |||
Zanu-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuvarira said the party would amend the constitution so as to abolish rights to private ownership of land. Now, traditionally NO ONE owns the land, but the tribe apportions land to each family. This is why men work in town, but their wives are left home to farm...if the wives move to town, they lose their "right" to the land, and will not have any way to support themselves when they retire... He said the move would end "ceaseless litigation" by white farmers whose property has been expropriated by decree over the past five years. Well, there goes rule of law... Under the proposed new system, land would be leased for 99-year terms. "Through the amendments we are going to push for when parliament resumes sitting in June, all land will become state land, with farmers leasing it on a 99-year lease basis," Mr Shamuvarira said. "This will dispense with the ownership litigation process. "All the former farmers can do after these amendments would be to contest the amount of compensation." Zanu-PF has a large enough parliamentary majority to push through constitutional changes. However, some party officials who are themselves landowners are understood to be unhappy with the proposal. As I said earlier, in the Philippines, the land was given to our tenant farmers to own with land reform..as a result, they became prosperous.....but in Zimbabwe, often the farm and the equipment was given to government big shots...now they might have their land confiscated....not...wait a few days and you'll see a new law exempting the big shots from the law... The move comes after some white farmers won court cases against the government after contesting the expropriation of their land. | |||
All the former farmers can do after these amendments would be to contest the amount of compensation 
Nope. can't have rule of law..
Monday, May 30, 2005
World must end Mugabe mahem
So says Robert Robert
of the Kennedy School of Government's Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University, and president of the World Peace Foundation...
He gives a good summary of Mugabe's evil...but writes in a Canadian paper...note his sarcastic summary:Dictators who abuse their people mercilessly, not only in the Middle East, deserve to be pushed out.
Translation: OK...you wanted to stop Sadam Hussein who killed five million Iraqis (not to mention invading Iran and Kuwait)...we here at Harvard think you are terrible, but this is my favorite project, so whine whine why don't you take out Mugabe...
OF course, if Bush did, you'd hear he was after the Chromium etc. mines..
Well, this was written for a Canadian newspaper. I have a great idea. Have Canada do it....naaah, too practical. Better to preach like this and blame the USA for everything...
of the Kennedy School of Government's Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University, and president of the World Peace Foundation...
He gives a good summary of Mugabe's evil...but writes in a Canadian paper...note his sarcastic summary:Dictators who abuse their people mercilessly, not only in the Middle East, deserve to be pushed out.
Translation: OK...you wanted to stop Sadam Hussein who killed five million Iraqis (not to mention invading Iran and Kuwait)...we here at Harvard think you are terrible, but this is my favorite project, so whine whine why don't you take out Mugabe...
OF course, if Bush did, you'd hear he was after the Chromium etc. mines..
Well, this was written for a Canadian newspaper. I have a great idea. Have Canada do it....naaah, too practical. Better to preach like this and blame the USA for everything...
Sunday, May 29, 2005
White Bwana alert
Actually, bwana is not a mashona word...but comes from the movies, where the superior white people think that because they have white skin, that danger and the laws of nature don't apply to them.
So we have a stupid European woman from the UK who, instead of driving her own car, or flying, actually takes a local bus...and then when the bus crashes, sues the bus company...
Look, lady, I'm sorry you lost a leg in a bus accident, but those are the dangers involved in traveling on buses. Heck, in the Philippines, if I ride on a ferry, and it sinks, do I sue for being that stupid? I mean, a couple ferries sink here every year, it's part of the package of living in the Third world.
And the million Rand/pounds you are asking for compensation would feed a lot of starving people...
Ah, but you are "environmental biologist"...so I guess you only care for trees and animals, not poor people...
So we have a stupid European woman from the UK who, instead of driving her own car, or flying, actually takes a local bus...and then when the bus crashes, sues the bus company...
Look, lady, I'm sorry you lost a leg in a bus accident, but those are the dangers involved in traveling on buses. Heck, in the Philippines, if I ride on a ferry, and it sinks, do I sue for being that stupid? I mean, a couple ferries sink here every year, it's part of the package of living in the Third world.
And the million Rand/pounds you are asking for compensation would feed a lot of starving people...
Ah, but you are "environmental biologist"...so I guess you only care for trees and animals, not poor people...
Well, maybe if you say please...
Maybe, just maybe, Mugabe will let the UN send food in to the 7 million who will be short of food...
Machinga, Malawi - Zimbabwe will probably allow the United Nations to launch a food-aid operation to help alleviate the impact of a late-in-the-season drought across the nation, says the UN's special envoy for southern Africa....
How nice of them to "allow" food aid...
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accused aid agencies in the past of working to further the political agenda of the opposition under the guise of food distribution.
Yup. Evil NGO's fed people, even those who voted against him...how dare they...
Last year he said his country had more than enough food, forcing aid agencies to scale back distribution. But the WFP carried on feeding almost a million of the most vulnerable, including many children orphaned by Aids.
Forcing agaencies? what happened...did the maize stand up and chase out the NGO's? Or did a ghost do it? Actually, there wasn't enough food last year...
Zimbabwean officials say the country needs 1,2-million tons of maize, but many aid workers say they doubt the government has the foreign exchange to afford it.
Morris, who is due to meet Mugabe next week in Harare, says he expects the government to become more helpful, given that the drought has impacted on Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi as well as his country.
"My perception is that the government is working hard to ensure food is available," he said. "I think they'll want our help. We'll leave the politics to others but our priority is that people don't starve."
Yes, if you beg hard enough, maybe the government will let you feed the starving...
Machinga, Malawi - Zimbabwe will probably allow the United Nations to launch a food-aid operation to help alleviate the impact of a late-in-the-season drought across the nation, says the UN's special envoy for southern Africa....
How nice of them to "allow" food aid...
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accused aid agencies in the past of working to further the political agenda of the opposition under the guise of food distribution.
Yup. Evil NGO's fed people, even those who voted against him...how dare they...
Last year he said his country had more than enough food, forcing aid agencies to scale back distribution. But the WFP carried on feeding almost a million of the most vulnerable, including many children orphaned by Aids.
Forcing agaencies? what happened...did the maize stand up and chase out the NGO's? Or did a ghost do it? Actually, there wasn't enough food last year...
Zimbabwean officials say the country needs 1,2-million tons of maize, but many aid workers say they doubt the government has the foreign exchange to afford it.
Morris, who is due to meet Mugabe next week in Harare, says he expects the government to become more helpful, given that the drought has impacted on Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi as well as his country.
"My perception is that the government is working hard to ensure food is available," he said. "I think they'll want our help. We'll leave the politics to others but our priority is that people don't starve."
Yes, if you beg hard enough, maybe the government will let you feed the starving...
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Raid leaves thousands homeless.
LINK
Harare - Police set fire to shacks in townships and squatter camps around Zimbabwe overnight, leaving thousands of poor people homeless on Friday in what the government calls a campaign to clean up cities.
Residents of other townships rioted on Thursday night when police moved in after dark and began burning their homes.
All the demolished shacks were in areas that voted for the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change party, in March 31 parliamentary elections......
Friday, May 27, 2005
Ghost towns
Again, cut and paste:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1411226/posts
The original story was in Zimbabwe independent, but the link won't work, probably because the story was taken off line...the FR link will last for awhile...
The report is about the small towns that no longer exist since the white farms and also the small factories have departed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1411226/posts
The original story was in Zimbabwe independent, but the link won't work, probably because the story was taken off line...the FR link will last for awhile...
The report is about the small towns that no longer exist since the white farms and also the small factories have departed.
BEEB report
Link here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4583695.stm
Cut and paste: Blogger isn't placing the link thingie on my blog today...
State radio said the arrests were made in the town of Gweru in the centre of the country.
It brings the number of people arrested in Zimbabwe over the last week to more than 17,000.
Zimbabwe state radio said the people were arrested for hoarding scarce goods like maize, dealing in foreign currency and gold panning.
The town of Gweru lies in a rich mining belt and thousands of unemployed people have moved there in recent years to eke out a living looking for gold.
Some of the people arrested have paid fines; others have been taken to court.
There have been large numbers of police on the streets of Gweru and 1,000 extra officers are patrolling the capital, Harare, to prevent any violent reaction to the arrests.
On Wednesday, when the police burnt an informal market in the Harare suburb of Glen View, street traders threw stones at the police and then looted several shops.
Despite the tensions, the police say the arrests will continue.
The government says it wants to stop the damage the black market is doing to the economy, namely stoking an already high rate of inflation.
But more than 80% of the people in Zimbabwe are jobless and for the majority of the population, the informal economy is the only way of making a living.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4583695.stm
Cut and paste: Blogger isn't placing the link thingie on my blog today...
State radio said the arrests were made in the town of Gweru in the centre of the country.
It brings the number of people arrested in Zimbabwe over the last week to more than 17,000.
Zimbabwe state radio said the people were arrested for hoarding scarce goods like maize, dealing in foreign currency and gold panning.
The town of Gweru lies in a rich mining belt and thousands of unemployed people have moved there in recent years to eke out a living looking for gold.
Some of the people arrested have paid fines; others have been taken to court.
There have been large numbers of police on the streets of Gweru and 1,000 extra officers are patrolling the capital, Harare, to prevent any violent reaction to the arrests.
On Wednesday, when the police burnt an informal market in the Harare suburb of Glen View, street traders threw stones at the police and then looted several shops.
Despite the tensions, the police say the arrests will continue.
The government says it wants to stop the damage the black market is doing to the economy, namely stoking an already high rate of inflation.
But more than 80% of the people in Zimbabwe are jobless and for the majority of the population, the informal economy is the only way of making a living.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
82% of communities have crop failures
LINK
HELLO>>>>>
The rainy season starts in September...if the rains come later, often people can re sow crops in December, or sow dry crops (sorgham instead of maize)...
If the rains haven't come by January, there will be a famine, although most people store grain enough for two years, so they can tolorate one dry season. Since there was crop failure for two years so far, it doesn't take an expert to say that famine will be a problem...
HELLO>>>>>
The rainy season starts in September...if the rains come later, often people can re sow crops in December, or sow dry crops (sorgham instead of maize)...
If the rains haven't come by January, there will be a famine, although most people store grain enough for two years, so they can tolorate one dry season. Since there was crop failure for two years so far, it doesn't take an expert to say that famine will be a problem...
Zimbabwe's new Colonialists
A few days ago, I posted about Zim's government clamping down on the black market including second hand goods sellers who were undermining the prices of chinese imports...I have also noted how Chinese are helping Mugabe to monitor their internet etc. from dissenters.
Now the Weekly standard points out the growing links, and the implications...
Now the Weekly standard points out the growing links, and the implications...
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