Weekly anb02227.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-02-2001      PART #7/7

* Zambia. Aid doubts "ignored"  -  The International Monetary Fund and 
World Bank proceeded with a $3.8bn debt relief programme for Zambia despite 
indications of serious irregularities in the country's mineral sales 
highlighted in an independent auditors' report. The IMF asked Zambia to 
commission the European Union-financed audit last June as part of the 
conditions for a loan agreement after Fund officials noted substantial 
discrepancies in the national accounts between the market price of cobalt 
and the amount Zambia realised. The audit confirmed that cobalt was sold in 
1998-99 for at least $60m below the market price in an arrangement 
"unjustified on economic grounds". The IMF and World Bank were under 
pressure from western finance ministers to approve debt relief for some of 
the world's poorest countries before the end of last year following 
energetic campaigning by groups such as Jubilee 2000. However, the 
debt-relief programmes were designed to be restricted to countries with a 
commitment to transparency and good governance. The disclosure is likely to 
prove an embarrassment for Horst Köhler, IMF managing director, and James 
Wolfensohn, World Bank president, on the eve of a seven-day tour of Africa. 
The audit blames senior officials at the then state-owned Zambia 
Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) for agreeing "an improper and damaging 
exclusive agency contract" with Metal Resources Group (MRG), Bahamas-based 
trading company. MRG was able to price contracts at $6 a pound in January 
1999, half the price cobalt had traded at a month earlier and barely a 
third of what it fetched a month later. MRG insists it has done nothing 
wrong and says auditors made minimal efforts to represent its 
position.   (Financial Times, UK, 16 February 2001)

* Zambia. Coup suspects  -  The Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of 
Human Rights Allegations recommends that the Zambian government should 
compensate 79 individuals alleged to have been involved in the attempted 
coup of October 28 1997. The Commission has also demanded that three top 
security officers should be retired from their jobs on the national 
interest and that the Government should compensate the treason suspects to 
the tune of over US $ 170,000. The suspects are believed to have been 
tortured whilst in custody. The Government has rejected the compensation 
demands, but has called for appropriate disciplinary measures to be carried 
out wherever necessary.   (Gideon Thole, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 19 February 2001)

* Zambia. Election aid to Zambia withheld  -  Zambia's co-operating 
partners, including the European Union, have withheld their assistance to 
the Electoral Commission in Zambia, meant to facilitate the country's 
general elections later in the year. This followed the government's refusal 
to accept some conditions, including adherence to the constitutional 
limitation on the presidential term of office. Donors are also demanding a 
level playing field for political parties in funding, and equal access to 
the public media, especially to state-owned radio and television.   (PANA, 
Senegal, 20 February 2001)

* Zambia. Constitutional experts warn Chiluba over third term  -  The 
architect of the current Zambian constitution has given President Fredrick 
Chiluba a "few days" in which to change his position on amending the laws 
to enable him contest the 2001 general by seeking a third term of office. 
Speaking at the first ever National Conference on Upholding, Protecting and 
Defending the Zambian Constitution, in Lusaka on 21 February, he said that 
Zambia was heading for danger unless Chiluba reconsiders his position on 
the controversial third term debate, being spearheaded by selected members 
of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). "I have become very 
concerned, because I smell divisions in this country, which will destroy 
the fabric of peace which has been keeping Zambia together since 
independence in 1964". It should be recalled that Mwanakatwe was chairman 
of the 1996 Mwanakatwe Commission of Inquiry, tasked with amending and 
redrafting the Constitution. "At the age of 75, I dream of a Zambia where 
my grandchildren can live in peace. I am appealing to President Chiluba to 
change make up his mind". Mwanakatwe reminded President Chiluba that the 
Constitution was amended in 1991 and 1996, in order to facilitate the birth 
and growth of democracy. He said that he was not going to be party to any 
attempt to change laws to suit any group of individuals at the expense of 
the silent majority.   (Gideon Thole, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 21 February 2001)

* Zimbabwe. A currency gone insane  -  Officially, one American dollar will 
buy you 55 of the Zimbabwean kind. But Harare's money-changers will happily 
give you 70 or 80, unless you ask for a receipt, while industrialists, 
looking for foreign exchange must part with anything up to 100 Zim dollars 
to get hold of a single greenback. All this is illegal, but Zimbabwe's 
insane currency have made criminals of many honest people. Zimbaweans cope 
with the shortage of the dollars that count, in various ways. the 
government grabs them from other people. On February 9th, it told the 
country's banks to start selling all their hard currency inflows to the 
central bank and the state petrol-importing monopoly, at the official rate. 
It said that Zimbabwean embassies abroad face power cuts because they 
cannot pay their bills. (...) The economy is so stormy that many exporters 
stay afloat only by selling American dollars on the black market. Others 
try to keep their foreign earnings off-shore. This is not easy, since most 
sell tobacco, gold, roses and other goods that can be observed and recorded 
as they quietly leave the country. But some quietly set up overseas 
subsidiaries to buy their own products at artificially low prices. the 
subsidiary then sells the goods to the real buyer, and keeps the proceeds 
abroad. (...)   (The Economist, UK, 17 February 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai inculpé  -  Le 16 janvier, le leader du Mouvement 
pour le changement démocratique (MDC, opposition) Morgan Tsvangirai a été 
inculpé d'incitation à la violence. Lors d'un discours, il avait conseillé 
au président Mugabe de démissionner pour éviter d'être destitué avec 
violence. Son procès commencera le 30 avril. En réaction, le MDC a rappelé 
que Mugabe a à plusieurs reprises menacé de mort des Blancs et d'autres 
adversaires. Le mois prochain, le vice-président du MDC, Gibson Sibanda, 
doit comparaître en justice parce qu'il a dit à ses militants de ne pas se 
laisser intimider par les partisans de Mugabe. - Le 17 février, deux 
journalistes ont été expulsés. Joseph Winter, correspondant de la BBC, et 
Mercedes Sayagues, correspondante du journal sud-africain Mail and Guardian 
(qui avait relaté des violences commises par des militants de Mugabe), ont 
reçu l'ordre de quitter le pays dans les 24 heures. "Expulser des 
journalistes ne peut empêcher le monde de voir ce qui se passe au 
Zimbabwe", a commenté le secrétaire d'Etat au Foreign Office.   (ANB-BIA, 
de sources diverses, 19 février 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Les fermiers blancs divisés  -  Les propriétaires blancs 
d'exploitations agricoles, engagés dans une guerre des nerfs avec le 
gouvernement propos de son programme de réforme agraire, sont en train de 
se diviser face la détermination du président Mugabe de poursuivre jusqu'au 
bout ce programme, malgré les critiques de la communauté internationale. Le 
Syndicat des exploitants agricoles (CFU) qui s'est réuni ce week-end pour 
discuter de l'impasse où se trouvent les négociations, a décidé de 
reprendre le dialogue. Des divisions profondes ont émergé au sein de 
l'association, la plupart des membres accusant la direction actuelle d'être 
responsable de l'impasse. Le CFU aurait convoqué une réunion extraordinaire 
de l'association le mois prochain pour élire de nouveaux dirigeants qui 
auraient pour mandat de négocier "une solution à l'amiable". - D'autre 
part, au Mozambique, des responsables de la ville de Chimoio (centre) ont 
accueilli favorablement un projet d'attribution de terres à environ 100 
fermiers zimbabwéens, qui ont décidé d'émigrer suite à la réforme agraire 
dans leur pays. On espère que cette initiative augmentera la production 
agricole et créera environ 1.300 emplois. Le parti d'opposition Renamo a 
cependant conseillé la prudence, craignant des conflits si les Zimbabwéens 
se retrouvent avec de meilleures terres au détriment des 
Mozambicains.   (PANA, 20 février 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Uncertainties  -  Economy: On 15 February, the Financial 
Gazette said that South Africa's ABSA Banl Limited, has withheld a US $75 
million line of credit to the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) to 
buy fuel, until the Zimbabwean firm matches the Bank's support with an 
equivalent amount of money in local currency. The Opposition: The 
Opposition Movement for Democratic change has urged the South African 
Government to cut of electricity and fuel supplies to Zimbabwe, to force 
President Mugabe to respect the rule of law. On 16 February, The Herald 
reported that the Government will withdraw passports from people who are 
campaigning for economic sanctions to be imposed upon the country. On 16 
February, the Zimbabwe government stepped up its campaign against the main 
opposition group, indicting Morgan Tsvangirai, its leader, on charges of 
inciting violent change. Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for 
Democratic Change (MDC), will appear in court on April 30 to answer charges 
of uttering inflammatory statements likely to incite violence. He is the 
third MDC leader to be so charged following a similar accusation against Mr 
Gibson Sibanda, the deputy leader of the MDC and leader of the 
parliamentary opposition, and Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the party's 
youth wing. No such charges have been made, however, against Joseph Msika, 
the vice-president, who earlier this week threatened a "return to 
revolutionary war" should ZANU-PF lose next year's presidential election. 
Mr Tsvangirai's party, which holds 56 of the 120 elected seats in 
parliament, said the charge amounted to harassment of opponents of 
President Robert Mugabe's quest for another six-year term in elections next 
year. The charges stem from a speech that the MDC leader made at an 
opposition rally in Harare last September when he said Mr Mugabe should 
retire before Christmas or "we will remove you by force". Mr Tsvangirai's 
party, reacting to the charges, noted that Mr Mugabe in speeches had 
promised death to whites and other opponents. On 18 February, the 
Government said it will tighten a law against dual citizenship in a move 
likely to hit thousands of whites of British descent. The Media: A letter 
sent to President Mugabe on 15 February, by the president of the Society of 
Professional Journalists, USA, expresses concern over "what has been 
happening to my fellow journalists in Zimbabwe. (...) I encourage you to 
renounce the use of violence against the media and to take immediate, 
visible steps to assure the people who bombed the Daily News, and those who 
threatened the Observer and other papers are caught and held accountable". 
On 17 February, a BBC journalist, Joseph Winter, was forced to take refuge, 
along with his family, at the British High Commission, after a group of men 
tried to break into his house. He has been ordered to leave the country, 
but a lawyer has obtained a ruling from a court in Harare delaying the 
expulsion for five days. In fact, he has now left Zimbabwe for South 
Africa. The land issue: On 15 February it was reported that the Commercial 
Farmers' Union has decided to meet next month to debate how to break the 
impasse over the government's land reform scheme. On 20 February, relations 
between the government and the Commercial Farmers Union hit a new low, when 
the authorities banned all further dialogue on the grounds that the union 
was receiving foreign funding and was no longer a reliable interlocutor, 
but an opposition party. Foreign affairs: The United States says it is 
looking for ways to punish Robert Mugabe following government threats to 
the Lives of Zimbabwe's leading judges and the expulsion of two foreign 
journalists. On 21 February, Britain's Foreign Secretary announced that 
Zimbabwe has accepted "in principle" a visit from a Commonwealth 
delegation.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 22 February 2001)


Weekly anb0222.txt - End of part 7/7

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)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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