1 September 2000
Johannesburg — ZIMBABWE: DRC war figures disputed - Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, Simba Makoni on Tuesday told parliament that President Robert Mugabe's government had spent over US $200 million during its two-year military intervention in support of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent-Desire Kabila.
In an announcement seen by analysts as a departure from normal practice, experts contacted by IRIN said the figures on the cost of Zimbabwe's intervention to assist Kabila against a rebellion backed by Uganda and Rwanda should be viewed with caution.
Military analysts said the figures were too low as they excluded expenditure on military equipment acquired for the estimated 12,000 Zimbabwean troops in the DRC as well as the replacement value of losses to the equipment. Michael Quintana, editor of Africa Defence Journal, told IRIN that government figures on the DRC involvement should be treated with caution: "Although it is impossible to calculate the actual cost of Zimbabwe's involvement in the DRC, there is, however, an estimated figure of about US $281.5 million that has not been mentioned by the minister," Quintana said.
He said the Zimbabwe Defence Force's (ZDF) air bridge to DRC - at the rate of five flights a week - is estimated to have cost between US $30 and US $40 million over the last two years. Quintana also said ZDF had acquired armed carriers, gunships and helicopters from countries like France, Russia and Libya. "These costs, estimated at US $73 million, have not been mentioned in Makoni's answer in parliament."
ZIMBABWE: IMF visit not a panacea
The two-week visit to Zimbabwe by a six-man International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation was not likely to offer a lifeline to the cash-strapped country for as long as President Robert Mugabe's government did not change the policies that led to the suspension of donor support, economists told IRIN this week.
Economist John Robertson said the delegation was in the country to write an assessment report on the economic impact of the government's policies. "The IMF is not going to offer Zimbabwe any financial support because of its failure to meet conditions that led to the suspension of support," Robertson said.
He listed these as an end to farm invasions, the return to the rule of law, withdrawal of troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the resumption of payments of loans to the World Bank and other international lenders.
ZIMBABWE: War veterans leader dethroned
The leader of Zimbabwe's independence war veterans, Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi was dethroned at the weekend by members of the ex-fighters' association who accused him of reluctance to denounce police evictions last week of the former guerrillas from white-owned farms they had occupied since February.
Andy Mhlanga, the general secretary of Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association described Hunzvi as "dictatorial," and said the organisation would meet next weekend to elect a new leader. "We have taken this action because Hunzvi had become dictatorial and was now running the war veterans association like his personal poultry project. We are also not happy because he did not denounce police when they destroyed the war veterans homes," Mhlanga said.
ZIMBABWE: More farmers prepare to leave
Nearly 2,000 white farmers, uncertain about their future in the face of new farm seizures by the government, had stepped up efforts to seek alternative farming opportunities elsewhere in southern and eastern Africa. In the past month alone an estimated 1,700 tobacco and maize farmers had made enquiries to resettle in countries such as Zambia, Mozambique and Uganda. Steve Crawford, a spokesman for the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said: "It is true Zimbabwean farmers are seeking opportunities in the region but I do not have comprehensive information since this is done on an individual basis."
ZIMBABWE: Agricultural output to decline
Zimbabwe's agriculture sector is expected to decline by 4.2 percent in 2000, compared to a growth rate of 1.9 percent in 1999, Zimbabwe Financial Holdings (FINHOLD), the country's main financial institution said in a report released this week. The decline in the production of crops such as wheat, cotton, soybeans, coffee and horticulture was caused by heavy flooding associated with Cyclone Eline, shortages of fuel and foreign currency and the disruption to farming activities due to the occupation of white-owned farms by liberation war veterans.
ZIMBABWE: Farm invasions displace labourers
At least 15,000 Zimbabwe black farm labourers and their families had lost their jobs and homes since the government started to resettle blacks on white- owned land three weeks ago, a union leader said this week.
"At least 15,000 people have been displaced by the fast track land redistribution programme in Mashonaland West and Central provinces," said Phillip Munyanyi, general secretary of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ). He said out of an average of 300 employees per white farm, only three or five workers are being given land. Munyanyi added that as many of the employees have families to support, each time a farm is taken an average of 600 people lost their homes.
ZIMBABWE: Editor fired after anti-state comment
Bornwell Chakaodza, editor of Zimbabwe's main state-controlled daily newspaper the 'Herald', was fired this week after attacking President Robert Mugabe's government over lawlessness on white-owned farms and in urban townships. The board of Zimbabwe Newspapers announced that Chakaodza had been "asked to go on leave, pending redeployment in the near future".
Although no reasons were given observers said his future was already in serious doubt in early July when he published an editorial condemning the government-backed invasions of white-owned farms by so-called guerrilla war veterans, and the deployment of troops in Harare's poor townships.
ZIMBABWE: Government sees fuel crisis easing
The Zimbabwean government said this week an acute fuel shortage gripping the country should gradually ease after its main supplier agreed to resume supplies while repayment hitches were being ironed out. "IPG (Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait) has agreed to provide continuous supplies while repayments are being worked out," Munyaradzi Hwengwere, a spokesman for the government's task force on fuel said.
He said supplies from IPG were being "swallowed up" on a daily basis due to depleted reserves. "We don't have fuel reserves at the moment, we just have enough fuel to survive on a day-to-day basis and it is not an ideal situation," Hwengwere said.
ANGOLA-NAMIBIA: Refugees flee UNITA attack
Angolan UNITA rebels attacked the southern Angolan border town of Kwangari early on Thursday, sending civilians fleeing across the Kavango river into Namibia, Namibia's regional army commander told IRIN.
Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard Nkawa said UNITA attacked at 4.30 a.m. local time, but were repulsed in a "heavy" 90-minute gun battle clearly audible on the Namibian side of the border. "Up to now the town is under the control of FAA (the Angolan army) and they are conducting mopping up operations," he added.
Nkawa said around 200 Angolan refugees crossed to the northern Namibian town of Nkurenkuru, 140 km west of the regional district capital of Rundu, to escape the fighting. UNHCR said on Thursday that 103 of them had chosen to stay in Namibia and would be transported from Nkurenkuru to a transit camp at Kasava, 77 km from Rundu. From there they are to be registered and moved on to the Osire refugee camp, 250 km north of the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
NAMIBIA-ANGOLA: Kavango insecurity
The Angolan army (FAA) has reduced its troop presence in northern Namibia in an apparent surrender to local public pressure, political and security sources told IRIN.
Since December, under invitation from the Namibian government, the FAA has used the Kavango region as a logistical base and springboard for an offensive against UNITA rebels in southern Angola. The FAA, however, has earned a reputation for indiscipline. Local complaints of drunkenness and stock thefts have not endeared the Angolan army to a population being terrorised by retaliatory attacks by UNITA.
An IRIN focus on Kavango insecurity, 1 September can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/safp.phtml
ZAMBIA: More Angolan refugees enter Zambia
Over 500 new Angolan refugees had crossed into Zambia within the last week, a UNHCR spokesman told IRIN. Kelvin Shimo from UNHCR in Lusaka told IRIN that in the last week 565 new Angolan refugees had entered Zambia's Northwestern Province. He said that the refugees had come from the Cazombo area in southern Angola.
Shimo added that most had crossed into the Zambezi district, but some had also entered into the Chavuma and Mwinilunga districts. "They are coming in tired and weak because of the long distances that they are having to walk," Shimo said. "We are feeding and housing them and taking care of their basic medical needs."
ZAMBIA: DRC rebels free 25 Zambian villagers
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week freed 25 Zambian villagers they seized last weekend. Home Affairs Minister Peter Machungwa said that the 25 were freed and handed over to Zambian authorities but that one villager was still unaccounted for. "They all appear to be in good health and are back with their families," he said. "No payment of any kind was paid to the Congolese to secure the release of the villagers," he added.
ZAMBIA: Bomb explosions near Angolan border
Two bombs exploded in northwestern Zambia on Monday. Zambian Home Affairs Minister Peter Machungwa said the bombs exploded in Jimbe, a rural town situated on the border with Angola. He said there were no casualties. "Most of the bombing took place on the Angolan side but somehow two bombs dropped on the Zambian side," Machungwa said. He could not say whether the bombs had been dropped by aircraft.
Meanwhile, Angola accused Zambia of breaking diplomatic protocols by publicly announcing that the bombings had taken place. "We are not sure that's entirely what happened," Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Pedro said. Angolan Defence Ministry spokesman Bravo da Rosa Kamaca said that Zambia should have consulted with a bilateral security and defence commission before making any public statements. "We have already reached an agreement on mechanisms to study all such problems," Pedro said.
ZAMBIA: Students riot, leaders arrested
Armed police this week fought running battles with rioting Zambian students who destroyed property at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and arrested 30 of their leaders. Riot police fired tear gas at the students who also damaged several private vehicles outside the university campus. Police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba said the student leaders were all charged with malicious damage of property.
The students were protesting against boarding fees of US $50 a month. "That is all the government is asking them to pay. The government pays the balance of the US $300 the students are supposed to pay for the two semesters a year," UNZA spokesperson Brita Kamanga said.
COMORO ISLANDS: Leaders sign declaration
The head of the military government in the Comoros islands, Colonel Azali Assoumani, last weekend signed a reconciliation deal with the leader of the Anjouan separatists, Said Abeid Abderemane. Under the accord signed at Fomboni on the Moheli island, they agreed to commit themselves to creating a "Comoran entity".
They also reaffirmed their membership of the franc currency zone. The creation of a tripartite Commission (Anjouan, Moheli and Greater Comoro) was also agreed on, to help define the mechanisms and modalities for the operation of the new Comoran state.
Meanwhile the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) has denounced the latest accord. An OAU communique said that the agreement would "contribute to the aggravation of tension and instability in the archipelago".
MOZAMBIQUE: WFP aid to continue
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said this week that it was extending its food relief operations in flood-stricken Mozambique until next year. WFP's spokesman Inyene Udoyen, said the operations were being extended until March next year because an estimated 175,000 people would not have access to a good harvest this year. WFP said that it was moving away from free food aid and replacing it with food-for-work programmes.
MOZAMBIQUE: Solid post-flood recovery by 2002
Mozambican Finance Minister Luisa Diogo said on Monday that Mozambique could return to double-digit growth rates by 2002. Diogo said she was optimistic about the country's economic recovery from devastating floods earlier this year. She said that work to rehabilitate roads, bridges and railways destroyed by the floods had speeded up after initial delays.
But she said the country remained hampered by debt servicing costs despite international support writing off about 85 percent of its foreign debt.
MALAWI: Opposition boycotts voter registration
The opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) this week called on potential voters not to register for the forthcoming local government elections allegedly because the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) had connived with the Electoral Commission to rig the polls.
The registration of voters for the 21 November elections started this week throughout Malawi. However MCP's publicity secretary, James Chimera said that the opposition was against the registration exercise because the Electoral Commission had not given them enough time to mobilise their machinery to monitor the exercise.
MALAWI: Government seeks US $25 million for resettlement
The Malawi government said this week that it planned to ask donors to provide US $25 million to purchase land for a resettlement programme to cater for 21,000 landless peasants. Henry Juwa, principal secretary at the lands ministry said that at least 14,000 hectares were required for the resettlement programme once a land reform policy becomes law in October. Analysts said Malawi wanted to quickly distribute idle land to the landless to avoid the Zimbabwe-style land invasions.
MALAWI: ILO warns Malawi on child labour
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said this week that Malawi risked negative economic implications if it continued to use child labour. Hezron Njuguna, ILO senior specialist, said: "I cannot say it is rampant or not because there is no conclusive data available on child labour here. But child labour will affect Malawi products on the world market."
In a recent report, the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions said a lot of the country's tobacco and tea plantations employed children who worked long hours doing heavy work. Its secretary general, Francis Antonio, said the study discovered that most of the under-aged labourers - some as young as six years old - were accompanied to the fields by their parents.
MADAGASCAR: Country edging closer to debt relief - IMF
Madagascar is edging closer towards large scale debt relief and is a potential candidate for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HPIC) initiative, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said this week. The IMF said however that Madagascar had to first complete preparatory work and make additional progress on economic reforms. In its annual review of the Madagascar economy, the IMF said it expected economic growth of 4.8 percent this year, little changed from last year's 4.7 percent.
SOUTH AFRICA: Government seeks US $200 million loan from WB
South Africa has approached the World Bank for a US $200 million loan to revamp the country's public hospitals. The loan which would be the second from the bank will only be considered by the board in July next year. "It is anticipated that this will be the first of a series of future (World) Bank involvement in the sector," a bank official said. South Africa plans to upgrade and restore its strained public hospitals at an estimated cost of US $270 million, with the state providing US $70 million of the funds.
SOUTH AFRICA: Bomb injures six in Cape Town
A bomb exploded this week near the US Consulate in the centre of Cape Town, leaving six people with minor injuries and destroying a car. The explosion hit just as the afternoon rush hour was getting underway.
It was centred in an area of office buildings on Adderley Street, one of the city's main roads. "The US Consulate's operations were not affected," consulate spokesman Brian Penn said. He said no one in the consulate was injured in the blast. In the past two years, Cape Town has been the target of numerous bomb attacks that have killed two people and injured at least 100.
SOUTH AFRICA: Racism conference
A four-day conference to discuss racial abuse and discrimination took place in South Africa this week. Speaking at the opening of the event President Thabo Mbeki said that the racial divisions still ingrained in South Africa had to be tackled "lest they worsened social instability".
"The postponement of this discussion would sharply exacerbate the danger of the social instability implicit in the racial divisions that continue to characterise our society," Mbeki said. The conference also addressed the increase in xenophobia among South Africans.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Food security update
The food security unit of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) reported in its latest update that while this year's floods had negatively affected the cereal production of many of the region's countries, other crops had benefited from the above average rainfall, resulting in increased agricultural output.
The SADC's Regional Early Warning Unit (REWU) said Zimbabwe - despite floods damage in parts of the eastern and southern areas - was projected to have a maize surplus of 48,000 mt for the 2000-2001 marketing year. It said Zimbabwe had 2.56 million mt of maize available for this period, which it said was sufficient to meet the country's total requirements. They are estimated at 2.51 million mt.
Namibia, according to REWU, had forecast overall cereal production of 139,000 mt for the 1999-2000 crop season, an increase of 85 percent over last year's harvest of 75,000 mt.
Swaziland's forecast, on the other hand, had shown a severely reduced maize harvest of only 71,000 mt compared to the 1998-99 season's above average harvest of 112,000 mt, said REWU.
A more detailed SOUTHERN AFRICA: Food security update, 29 August can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20000829.phtml
This item is delivered by the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit (e- mail: irin@ocha.unon.org; fax: +254 2 622129; Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN), but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2000 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
