Weekly anb03158.txt #8

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 15-03-2001      PART #8/8

* Zimbabwe. Collapsing tourism sector turns to domestic 
support  -  Zimbabwe's key tourism industry, currently facing declining 
international arrivals since last year, is now targeting the local market 
for survival. Political and social instability, farm invasions by 
liberation war veterans, fuel shortages and the resultant international 
publicity have been scaring tourists away. The industry, which contributes 
about eight percent of the Gross Domestic product, draws the bulk of its 
tourists from Europe, Asia and Australia. As a result of the decline in 
arrivals, the industry is operating at below 30 percent of its potential. 
Several operators have collapsed with the few survivors depending on 
massive discounts or have scaled down their operations. Leslie Gwindi, the 
marketing and public relations manager of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority 
which is responsible for selling the sector, said there was potential in 
domestic market, which had to be tapped. "We have been too outward looking 
in the past but recent developments have exposed us. Being wholly dependent 
on the international market is not sustainable. The industry has to survive 
and the home market could be its trump card", he said. There are some 
indications of a revival, at least from South East Asia. More than a 
hundred travel tours at a recent tourism exposition in Harare expressed 
interest in tours to Bulawayo and the surrounding areas. A group of safari 
operators from Malaysia visited the city this month; there are hopes for an 
influx of tourists with the solar eclipse on 21 June.   (SouthScan, 8 March 
2001)

* Zimbabwe. Nouveau président de la Cour suprême  -  9 mars. Le chef de 
l'Etat, Robert Mugabe, a nommé le nouveau président de la Cour suprême, 
Godfrey Chidyausiku, pour remplacer Anthony Gubbay qui avait accepté de 
partir en retraite anticipée. Cette nomination avait été prévue par tous 
les analystes, car M. Chidyausiku est le juge le plus favorable à la ligne 
politique du parti gouvernemental, le ZANU-PF.   (Misna, Italie, 9 mars 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Missionary forced to leave  -  A Presbyterian missionary who 
accused the government of involvement in the killings of two white 
parishioners left the country Sunday after authorities revoked his permit 
to work in Zimbabwe and ordered his deportation. The Rev. Paul Andrianatos 
traveled by bus to the southern border and entered neighboring South Africa 
safely after a campaign of threats and intimidation from state security 
agents, his family and colleagues said. Andrianatos, 44, claimed that 
remarks he made at the funeral of slain white farmer Martin Olds last April 
triggered the government's campaign against him. Eight members of 
Zimbabwe's white farming community have been killed since militants and 
veterans of the country's independence war began violently seizing 
white-owned farms last year with the backing of President Robert Mugabe and 
his government. The increasingly unpopular president has described the 
occupations as a justified protest against unfair land ownership by the 
descendants of colonial era white settlers. The government has ignored six 
court orders to remove illegal occupiers.   (AP, 12 March 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Critical economic situation  -  <P9%-2>8 March: A team from the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has arrived in the country for two weeks 
of talks with officials on the critical economic situation facing the 
country. The officials hope the talks will pave the way for a resumption of 
IMF lending, but this is unlikely without key economic and political 
changes. The IMF suspended aid to Zimbabwe in 1999, over a failure to stick 
to agreed targets. 12 March: The Government has broken off dialogue on land 
reform with the country's white farmers, accusing them of deceit in the 
protracted negotiations.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 March 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Inondations  -  Précipitations et inondations continuent à 
toucher le Zimbabwe. D'après les estimations de l'OCHA, 30.000 personnes 
sont maintenant victimes des inondations. La zone la plus affligée est la 
province du Mashonaland central (nord-est), une aire du bassin du Zambèze. 
Selon la Protection civile zimbabwéenne, il était encore difficile 
d'évaluer l'ampleur des dégâts subis par l'agriculture dans le district de 
Muzarabani, mais on sait déjà qu'ils sont fort importants. La circulation 
reste précaire dans une bonne partie du pays. (Misna, Italie, 13 mars 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe appoints ally to head judiciary  -  President Robert 
Mugabe of Zimbabwe on 9 March appointed a close personal ally to head the 
country's judiciary as white farmers mourned the latest victim of a 
long-running campaign of intimidation against opponents of the government. 
The appointment of Godfrey Chidyausiku, a former deputy justice minister, 
as the acting chief justice followed the forced resignation this week of 
British-born Tony Gubbay. Ministers had accused Mr Gubbay and other senior 
judges of bias towards the white minority, particularly over Mr Mugabe's 
programme of compulsory land redistribution. The appointment came as 300 
mourners attended the funeral outside Bulawayo in western Zimbabwe of 
Gloria Olds, a 72-year-old widow murdered by gunmen outside her farm on 
Sunday. Mrs Olds' son was killed in similar circumstances last year. The 
Olds are among 35 opposition supporters, including eight white farmers, 
killed over the past 12 months. Police have made no arrests. The 
appointment of Godfrey Chidyausiku, a high court judge, followed a 
sustained campaign of intimidation by ministers and supporters to force Mr 
Gubbay to step down. Earlier this week, he agreed to take three months 
leave before retiring in July. Judge Chidyausiku was a deputy justice 
minister in the 1980s and chairman of the ill-fated Constitutional 
Commission, whose draft recommendations for a new constitution were thrown 
out by the electorate in February last year. He is best known for his 
refusal to allow members of the government-appointed commission to vote on 
the constitutional draft, declaring it was obvious that a majority of 
commissioners supported it. His promotion is seen as the start of a process 
of "restructuring" the Supreme Court to include a majority of judges likely 
to support the ruling ZANU-PF party. The announcement follows comments by 
Penuell Maduna, South Africa's justice minister, praising the independence 
of the judiciary in Zimbabwe.   (Financial Times, UK, 9 March 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's judiciary  -  Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has five 
judges -- two are white, there are two blacks and one Indian. The judiciary 
headed by Chief Justice Gubbay has 23 judges, 12 of them blacks. Several of 
the white judges served under the Rhodesia regime led by Ian Smith before 
Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980. Chief Justice Gubby was appointed 
in 1977. The Mugabe regime claims that since the judges were placed on the 
bench during a racist regime, they cannot be impartial in their decisions. 
When the so-called war veterans who fought in the period prior to the 1980 
liberation struggle, began invading white-owned farms in a series of 
actions supported by the ZANU-PF government, the white farmers began a 
series of litigations. The courts, under Chief Justice Gubbay, ruled in 
favour of the Commercial Farmers Union, ruling that the occupations are 
illegal. This week, in an interview with the South African Broadcasting 
Corporation, rebroadcast on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation TV, Justice 
Minister Chinamasa reaffirmed the government's plan to reshuffle the 
judiciary, dismissing widespread criticisms of the move. He said: "We are 
indeed restructuring not only the judiciary but all government 
institutions. We would especially like to reform the judiciary so that it 
attains a Zimbabwean identity."   (Hobbs Gama, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 12 March 2001)

Weekly, ANB0315.txt - End of part 8/8
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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