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weekly anb06158.txt #8
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 15-06-2000 PART #8/8
* Tanzania. Countdown to the elections - Contrary to earlier
statements by President Benjamin Mkapa that the government
will finance the coming elections, he has had to appeal for
financial support from donor organisations. Figures quoted by
the President regarding the amount needed, differ from those
of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). The President says
the elections are expected to cost about US $40 million, the
NEC says US #52.5 million. Between now and the elections on 28
October, there will be a number of pre-election activities
taking place. Seminars, Workshops, preparation of polling
stations and registration of voters. The EU has already
contributed US $5 million to support the presidential and
local government elections on the mainland. The EU will also
provide ballot papers for all three elections (municipal,
parliamentary and presidential), posters and leaflets
informing the public about the registration period and the
actual elections. The NEC's pre-election timetable is as
follows: Voter-registration -- 8-28 August; official campaigns
-- 19 August-the day before the elections. At present,
Tanzania has 13 registered political parties with two others
in the pipeline for registration. (Titus Kaguo, Tanzania, 7
June 2000)
* Togo. Truth and justice demanded for victims - In a Press
Release, Amnesty International says the setting up of a
Commission of Inquiry by the UN and the OAU into hundreds of
extrajudicial killings in Togo in 1998, is a step towards the
establishment of truth and justice. After three decades in
which Togolese civilians and soldiers have been arrested,
tortured, killed or have been "disappeared" with complete
impunity, the setting up of an international investigation is
a crucial step to guarantee that -- at least for the most
recent killings -- the truth is revealed and justice is done.
(Amnesty International, 9 June 2000)
* Tunisie. 2 prisonniers d'opinion liberes - Le 10 juin,
deux militants du Parti ouvrier communiste tunisien
(interdit), dont Abdelmoumen Belanes en greve de la faim
depuis le 8 mai, ont ete liberes apres avoir ete gracies par
le president Ben Ali, a-t-on appris de source officielle. Le
code penal tunisien prevoit l'annulation du reliquat de la
peine pour les deux detenus. (Le Soir, Belgique, 13 juin
2000)
* Zimbabwe. Campaigning for the polls - 8 June: President
Mugabe says he wants to solve the country's intricate land
reform issue once and for all, after the parliamentary
elections in June. He tells his governing party's
parliamentary candidates for the 24-25 June elections, that
Zimbabwe can no longer afford to waste time on land reform, an
issue that has dominated campaigning for the polls. "Our
revolution has not ended and the starting point must be land.
You who are going to Parliament must carry that message with
you", Mugabe tells 120 ZANU-PF candidates contesting the
polls. The High Court rejects an effort by those opposed to
President Mugabe, to delay the parliamentary elections.
Amnesty International says "state-sponsored terrorism" against
opponents of President Mugabe is threatening free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe. Thousands of ordinary people have
complained that their names are missing from the voters' roll,
and opposition parties accuse the government of leaving out
the names of young voters and whites sympathetic to them. 10
June: The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference calls for free
and fair elections and condemns a wave of violence that has
been blamed mainly on the supporters of President Mugabe. 12
June: Zimbabwe is charging a fee of $100 to foreign observers
and journalists covering the elections. The deadline for voter
registration ends today, amid accusations that the
registration process has been unfair. ZANU-PF arbitrarily cuts
the number of EU observers who are to be allowed in. 13 June:
Veterans' leader Chenjerai Hunzvi says that international
election observers are welcome on white-owned farms occupied
by his men, but must not speak to farm workers. He says: "If
you want to visit you are welcome, but just don't speak to the
workers because you will speak about land and that is a
separate issue. It has nothing to do with this election. If
you (observers) speak to the workers, that is politics. That
is interfering and we cannot accept that". (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 14 June 2000)
* Zimbabwe. Elections -- but where are the women? -
According to ZANU-PF's manifesto: "Women have always been and
still remain the custodians of the land. This is why ZANU-PF
and the government have always endeavoured to improve the
status of women and their quality of life". Yet the fact is,
women who constitute 52% of Zimbabwe's population remain
unrepresented in key policy-making positions in both the
public and the private sectors of industry and commerce. Also,
there are major disparities in educational opportunities for
both boys and girls. Boys are always favoured when it comes to
schooling. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
says it will promote grassroots process towards gender
equality in economic, social and domestic life, and will
ensure that women are not prejudiced by their child-bearing
and caring role, when it comes to employment or economic
opportunities. The MDC will also amend the labour laws to
provide for maternity leave with 100% pay, and will enhance
the involvement of women in technical training and employment,
promote equal employment opportunities between men and women.
Yet, for the 24-25 June parliamentary elections, out of 120
seats to be contested, ZANU-PF will field only 18 women
candidates, and the MDC only 13!. (Percy Makombe, ANB-BIA,
Zimbabwe, 14 June 2000)
* Zimbabwe. Les menaces de Mugabe - 8 juin. Le president
Mugabe a encore fait monter la tension en avertissant les
fermiers blancs qu'ils mourraient s'ils tentaient de resister
aux anciens combattants qui occupent leurs fermes. D'autre
part, les Etats-Unis ont vivement denonce la "campagne de
violence et d'intimidation" menee par le parti au pouvoir, le
ZANU-PF, affirmant qu'elle menacait la legitimite des
elections legislatives prevues les 24 et 25 juin. - 9 juin.
Les Nations unies ont decide de se retirer du processus de
coordination des elections, estimant insuffisantes les
garanties donnees aux observateurs internationaux par le
gouvernement zimbabween. - 12 juin: dernier jour
d'enregistrement des electeurs dont les noms n'etaient pas
apparus sur une premiere liste electorale. L'opposition a
accuse les autorites d'avoir deliberement raye les noms de
nombreuses personnes susceptibles de la soutenir au scrutin.
Amnesty International a emis de serieux doutes sur le
caractere libre et equitable des elections a venir en raison
de la campagne de "terreur soutenue par l'Etat", menee par des
partisans du parti au pouvoir. L'organisation a meme affirme
que les services secrets (CIO) avaient perpetre un attentat au
cocktail Molotov en mai a Buhera (sud), qui avait tue deux
partisans du MDC. - 13 juin. Densen Mafinyani, secretaire
general du Conseil des Eglises du Zimbabwe (ZCC), appelle a la
fin de la violence, le recours au dialogue, la tolerance et
l'engagement pour la paix, a l'approche des elections
parlementaires: "La vie, qu'elle soit blanche ou noire, est
sacree et elle appartient a Dieu". En accord avec les
representants de l'Eglise catholique, le ZCC a elabore un
programme d'education au vote et la distribution d'un
manuel. - 15 juin. Selon The Independent, le president Mugabe
envisage de saisir des mines et d'autres societes appartenant
a des etrangers dans le cadre de sa campagne pour
"africaniser" les avoirs du pays. Dans un entretien accorde au
journal, M. Mugabe affirme que les mines pourraient etre
saisies quand son gouvernement aura termine la redistribution
des terres detenues par des Blancs. (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 15 juin 2000)
* Zimbabwe. Problems on all fronts - Diamonds: Further
evidence has emerged of links between the Zimbabwean
government and Oryx, a diamond mining company seeking a
listing in London. (However, on 12 June, Oryx bows to pressure
from UK regulators and the UK Foreign Office and halts its
planned listing in London). Two ministers in President
Mugabe's cabinet, Emmerson Mnangagwa, minister of justice, and
Sidney Sekeremayi, minister of state for national security,
are directors of a company -- controlled by ZANU-PF -- that
will take a stake in Oryx (Financial Times, 10 June). Gold
Mines: With most of Zimbabwe's gold mines operating at a loss
because of rapid inflation and the government's fixed exchange
rate policy, a number of mines will be forced to close soon,
according to the Chamber of Mines. James Maposa, chamber
president, warned it was "highly likely" that the 45% output
drop in April would be repeated over the rest of the year.
Gold producers urgently need a higher domestic price and
increased access to foreign exchange to import materials such
as explosives and cyanide (Financial Times, 9 June). Also,
President Mugabe has given notice that he will follow his
campaign of land redistribution with a programme to take the
country's mines out of white ownership (BBC News, 15 June).
Land: The decision to seize 804 farms without compensation has
thrown Zimbabwe's financial services sector into turmoil, as
it emerges that banks are owed about 6 billion Zimbabwean
dollars (about 60 million pounds sterling) by the affected
farmers. Banking industry executives say the huge debt may
have to be written off with serious consequences for
Zimbabwe's already beleaguered financial sector (The
Independent, 9 June). Medicines: The heath minister warns of a
looming shortage of drugs because the government no longer has
the money to pay for imported medicines (IRIN, 8 June).
Petrol: Scores of Zimbabweans have been seen crossing to buy
petrol at Botswana's border town of Ramokgwebana. Most of the
Zimbabweans crossed the border post with their cars, while
those on foot carried containers. A Botswanan official
expressed fears that a fuel shortage is looming at the border
town, which has only one dealer selling petrol (PanAfrican
News Agency, 8 June). (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 15 June 2000)
Weekly anb0615.txt - End of part 8/8 - THE END
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* "La liberation sociale? *
* Se liberer du besoin d'appartenir au troupeau" (A. De Mello) *
* -------- *
* "What's Social Freedom? *
* "Freeing oneself from the need of belonging to a herd" (A.De Mello)*
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