Weekly anb09076.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 07-09-2000      PART #6/6

* Zambia. Chiluba gets jittery with Catholic Church  -  It is interesting 
reading that amid the growing criticism by the Catholic Church in Zambia 
against the government, on the deplorable and deteriorating social crisis 
in the nation, President Frederick Chiluba is concerned that the Church is 
out to "pray him out of power". President Chiluba appears to find pleasure 
and comfort in his declaration that Zambia is a Christian nation. While the 
Church in Zambia has taken his "political creed" as a mere joke, President 
Chiluba means every word of what he says, considering how often he has 
repeated the same message at important church gatherings. This has been 
Chiluba's "gospel" since his return from a marathon tour of the Holy Land 
in 1998 where he claimed he had been anointed as a strong Christian 
incapable of being "prayed out of power" by church leaders. Amid mounting 
pressure from the Catholic Church in Zambia through its numerous Pastoral 
Letters, criticising the high level of poverty and the total collapse of 
the education and health sectors, Chiluba echoed the same warning at the 
National Pastors Conference (NPC) in Lusaka, when he said: "You cannot pray 
me out of power because you will get your knees bruised. Pray for the 
prosperity of government instead of praying for my downfall. Your Churches 
should be praying for our country -- don't pray for destabilisation". The 
President was addressing about 300 participants from different 
denominations from all over Zambia who had gathered for a week from 15-19 
August, to examine the alarming state of the nation. The NPC is the 
brainchild of the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), the Christian Council 
of Zambia (CCZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and is 
sponsored by World Vision. The theme of the conference was: "Seeking the 
face of Christ in crises."   (Moses Chitendwe, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 1 September 
2000)

* Zambie. Violences sur des étudiantes  -  Des policiers ont violé 5 jeunes 
femmes au cours de la répression d'une manifestation étudiante la semaine 
dernière, a dénoncé le 5 septembre l'Interafrican Network for Human Rights 
and Development dans la capitale zambienne. Le 30 août, les universitaires 
de Lusaka s'étaient mobilisés pour protester contre les frais trop élevés. 
L'intervention de la police avait entraîné une série de bagarres. Au moins 
30 jeunes avaient fini à l'hôpital, dont une manifestante dans un état 
critique. (Misna, Italie, 6 septembre 2000)

* Zambia. "Death penalty and the right to life"  -  On 2 September, the 
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace held a one-day conference in 
Lusaka on the theme: "The Death Penalty and the Right to Life". About 200 
prisoners are presently on death row in Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison in 
Kabwe, awaiting execution by hanging. Included are the 59 sentenced to 
death in 1999 for their participation in the 1997 coup attempt. The 
Conference was attended by Mr Vincent Malambo, the Legal Affairs Minister, 
who is a lawyer by profession. In his official opening address, he outlined 
the provisions of the law at both national and international levels 
regarding the death penalty. A lecturer in the School of Law at the 
University of Zambia, Leonard Kalinde, said: "We need to move the Supreme 
Court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional as it violates Article 
15 of the Constitution which provides for freedom from torture and other 
inhuman and degrading treatment".   (Moses Chitendwe, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 7 
September 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Crise économique et financière  -  La crise économique, mais 
surtout le déficit public risquent de faire sauter le paiement des salaires 
des fonctionnaires à partir de septembre. Le ministre des Finances, Simba 
Makoni, et le secrétaire au Trésor, Charles Kuwaza, ont exprimé à plusieurs 
reprises leur préoccupation au président Mugabe, indique l'agence Misna le 
31 août. Bien que des réductions des dépenses publiques soient prévues pour 
garantir les salaires de plus de 140.000 fonctionnaires, la situation est 
critique. C'est pourquoi M. Makoni a admis que son pays ne pouvait 
continuer à financer les dépenses militaires du contingent envoyé au 
Congo-RDC. Cette campagne aurait déjà coûté plus de 200 millions de 
dollars. Le président Mugabe n'a pourtant pas l'intention de retirer ses 
troupes, car il considère cette action d'importance stratégique sur le plan 
international. - Le 5 septembre, l'association des banquiers zimbabwéens a 
annoncé que le dollar zimbabwéen a été dévalué de 3%, un peu plus d'un mois 
après une importante dévaluation de 24%. Le nouveau taux est de 51,5 ZWD 
pour un dollar US.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 septembre 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Financial difficulties  -  31 August: Zimbabwe's finance 
minister, Simba Makoni, has admitted that his country cannot sustain the 
cost of its intervention in Congo RDC for very much longer. He says 
Zimbabwe had spent the equivalent of US $200 million since entering the war 
in 1998. The cost of the war was raised by the political opposition during 
the election campaign. The International Monetary Fund also cites war among 
its reasons for freezing balance of payment supports to Zimbabwe last year. 
One report quotes military officials as privately estimating the cost of 
the conflict to be closer to US $15 million a month. 1 September: The 
authorities announce a massive increase in the price of fuel -- just over a 
month after the last price rise. Diesel fuel is up by 54%, and unleaded 
petrol by 40%. The state-run national oil company, Noczin, says the price 
rises are needed because of the recent devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar 
and escalating prices on the world oil market. 6 September: The Opposition 
Movement for Democratic Change has aid it plans to organise a mass protest 
against the rising cost of living. The announcement comes a day after angry 
commuters rioted in a suburb of Harare, to protest at dramatic price 
increased   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 September 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Réforme agraire  -  Le secrétaire général de l'Onu, M. Kofi 
Annan, soutiendra la redistribution des terres en cours au Zimbabwe à 
certaines conditions. C'est ce qui ressort de la rencontre à laquelle ont 
participé, le 5 septembre à New York, M. Annan et quatre présidents de 
l'Afrique australe (Malawi, Namibie, Afrique du Sud et Zimbabwe). Le 
soutien offert par M. Annan, même s'il est partiel, est le premier signe de 
reconnaissance envers la réforme agraire en dehors de la SADC. Mais pour 
qu'il confirme ce soutien, Harare devra rouvrir le dialogue avec la 
communauté internationale et se rapprocher des pays donateurs. Les Nations 
unies ont précisé que la redistribution des terres était urgente et qu'elle 
était une question intérieure de l'Etat souverain du Zimbabwe.   (Misna, 
Italie, 6 septembre 2000)

* Zimbabwe. More farms targeted  -  1 September: The Government identifies 
an additional 410 private farms, including land owned by Zimbabwe's last 
white leader, Ian Smith, that it plans to confiscate and hand over to 
impoverished blacks. Pushing ahead with its program to seize 3,000 mostly 
white-owned properties, a new list of targeted farms brings to 1,952 the 
number identified for nationalisation under a hastened land redistribution 
program. The notice gives the land owners until 1 October to file any 
objections. The government is expected to identify another 200 more farms 
for confiscation. Deepening confusion over the land seizure program, the 1 
September list includes the names of some black land owners and repeated 
names from earlier lists. 6-7 September: Zimbabwe's white farmers are 
meeting for a crucial two-day annual congress, in what officials of their 
association, the Commercial Farmers' Union, say will be dominated by 
discussions of their future in farming. The farmers decide to resume their 
legal battle against the land reforms. The leader of the CUF, Tim Henwood, 
said the new suit "will specifically challenge the power to take land from 
an individual without compensation".   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 7 September 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Radio Netherlands seeks a licence  -  Radio Netherlands has 
been seeking a licence to set up a radio station for broadcasting on 
short-wave. Its application, submitted on 16 June, has been turned down, 
subject to appeal. The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications says he is 
afraid that this particular application is yet again a ploy by the western 
powers to extend their spheres of influence into Africa. Radio Netherlands 
wants to broadcast within Zimbabwe in 15 local languages. All broadcasting 
within Zimbabwe must be authorised from Harare. The Government operates 
three radio stations on shortwave and one on FM. It also operates TV1 and 
TV2 from Harare and has allowed two private TV stations -- Joy TV and 
Munhumutapa TV in the capital.   (Dumisani Khumalo, ANB- BIA, Zimbabwe, 1 
September 2000)

Weekly anb0907 -  End of part 6/6

THE END

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*        Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous         *
* se tait devant la tyrannie (W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature) *
*                        --------                                 *
*    Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny,      *
*  someone else dies (Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature)    *
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