Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive Innocent Mavhunga confirmed that his firm’s Boeing 767-200 had been impounded on landing at Gatwick Airport on Monday after American General Supplies got a court order for money owed for aircraft spares.

“The plane has been attached by one of our spares suppliers over an outstanding debt which we are negotiating to settle,” he was reported as saying.

Mavhunga said government’s treasury department had told the airline it could not help with the required cash. Another official said Air Zimbabwe was still scrambling to get back the aircraft in time for a scheduled return flight to Harare on Tuesday evening.

“The management and the shareholder (government) have to work to a common cause because we stand to lose more by losing the plane and missing flights,” the official said, declining to be named.

Economic analysts say Air Zimbabwe is struggling to survive due to mounting debts, currently put at $40 million, and many see it as a victim of mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and poor funding by government since independence from Britain in 1980.

Reuters.

En revanche, les saisies s’effectuent parfois manu militari en dehors de tout cadre légal, et visent parfois des fermes appartenant à des ressortissants sud-africains, ce qui a généré ces derniers mois des tensions entre Harare et Pretoria. Les deux capitales ont en effet signé un accord binational censé protéger les investissements sud-africains dans l’ancienne Rhodésie du Sud.

La production agricole du Zimbabwe, l’ancien grenier du continent, s’est effondrée en l’espace d’une décennie suite à la réforme agraire de Mugabe, entraînant dans sa chute tout le secteur agro-industriel du pays, et menant à de graves pénuries alimentaires.

La réforme de Mugabe qui dirige son pays d’une main de fer depuis l’indépendance du Zimbabwe en 1980, n’a pas favorisé l’émergence d’agriculteurs noirs. Dans la plupart des cas, les fermes saisies ont été remises à des caciques du régime qui les ont laissées à l’abandon.

RFI

The 87-year-old leader told supporters at an annual ZANU-PF conference that the unity government that has ended a decade of economic collapse and seen a thawing in political tensions was dysfunctional.

Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party is accused of political violence in past elections, told his supporters to renounce violence, saying the party could win any vote with better policies such as the empowerment drive.

“We’re saying time has come now to prepare for elections. We just have to have elections next year,” Mugabe said in a speech that lasted more than two hours. “Let’s go to an election so people can choose a government of their liking.”

In the last election, Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round vote but was forced to pull out of a run-off, citing violence against his supporters from independence war veterans and youth militia running Mugabe’s campaign.

Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, is expected to be formally endorsed as ZANU-PF’s presidential candidate at the conference that ends on Saturday.

Political analysts say his allies are pressing for early elections, which are due in 2013 when Mugabe would be 89, fearing that he may not cope with the pressure of campaigning.

A June 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks in September said Mugabe had prostate cancer that had spread to other organs. He was urged by his physician to step down in 2008 but has stayed in the job.

Mugabe has maintained he is still fit.

On Thursday Mugabe said a drive by ZANU-PF to force mining companies to surrender at least 51 percent stakes to blacks was not an election gamble, but meant to address colonial imbalances.

Foreign-owned miners, including the world’s two top platinum producers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum Holdings and global miner Rio Tinto, have partly complied with the empowerment law.

The mining firms have offloaded 10 percent of their shares to local communities.

“We will not reverse this policy. Let no one deceive themselves that it’s devised for the elections. No, it’s a fundamental policy,” Mugabe said.

Reuters.

China’s Vice President Xi Jinping told Mugabe, 87, that China wants to expand farming, mining and infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe, where a campaign to transfer ownership of land and mines to locals has caused widespread economic hardship and deterred Western foreign investment.

Xi, likely to succeed Hu Jintao as China’s president from early 2013, voiced no such criticisms, according to an account of his meeting by the Chinese Foreign Ministry (www.mfa.gov.cn).

“His excellency the president is a famed leader of the national liberation movement in Africa, and also an old friend whom the Chinese people know well,” said Xi, whose name is pronounced “Shee”.

“China is willing to join hands with Zimbabwe, enhance friendly exchanges, and expand practical cooperation,” he added.

The report did not say whether the two leaders reached any commercial agreements.

Shunned by the West, Mugabe has increasingly sought help elsewhere, especially in China, whose companies covet the mineral resources of the southern African country.

Zimbabwe has demanded that most foreign mining companies in Zimbabwe surrender 51 percent of their local equity to blacks in the country.

But Zimbabwe has excluded Chinese mining firms from the demand, sending a signal to foreign miners that if they do not agree to the demands, they could lose their prospecting rights to Chinese competitors.

In March, China signed nearly $700 million in loan deals with Zimbabwe, and urged the government to protect Chinese firms from nationalisation plans.

China’s investments have been growing steadily in Zimbabwe and include diamond and chrome mining, platinum concessions, road construction, cotton and tobacco companies as well as a cement manufacturing plant.

In the first nine months of this year, trade between China and Zimbabwe grew to $717.3 million in value, a rise of 62.2 percent on the same period last year, according to Chinese customs statistics.

Reuters.

Last week Tsvangirai said violence was on the increase and Mugabe’s supporters and state security agents were to blame.

On Friday Mugabe and Tsvangirai addressed a joint meeting of senior members of their respective parties and said “endemic” political violence had to end ahead of the next elections, likely to be both parliamentary and presidential.

Zimbabwe’s votes over the last decade were marred by political violence, one of the reasons Western powers imposed sanctions on Mugabe and senior members of his ZANU-PF party.

“We have committed heart and soul that we ensure that our country is without violence. We want to live in a peaceful country,” Mugabe said.

The 87-year-old leader said he had been discussing the issue

with Tsvangirai during weekly meetings, adding that parties should set up inter-party committees across the country to stop violence.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe said their relationship had changed from one of hostility to one of friendly opposition and urged party supporters to emulate this.

“Let us differ with dignity. Violence is a collective national shame,” Tsvangirai said at the same meeting.

Talk of a possible election next year has reignited violence, which had decreased after Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a unity government more than two years ago following a disputed election in 2008.

Police have in the past few weeks disrupted Tsvangirai’s rallies in the western Matabeleland region where his MDC won the majority of parliamentary seats in 2008.

Suspected ZANU-PF militants last Sunday forced Tsvangirai to cancel a big rally when they attacked MDC youths in Chitungwiza town outside Harare.

Mugabe said he was sincere in calling for an end to violence and parties should not force people to attend rallies.

He also said the police should protect all citizens, noting that there were complaints some officer stand by when ZANU-PF members attack Tsvangirai’s supporters.

“Let us walk the talk of peace. This is our sincere plea from our hearts,” Mugabe said.

“People must hold their meetings freely. Don’t stand in the way of those who are holding a meeting.”

The parties also agreed on a code of conduct against political violence.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 and critics say the veteran leader has clung to power by using violence against opponents and through coercion and patronage to retain support within ZANU-PF.

He is ZANU-PF’s presidential candidate in the next vote.

Reuters.

The loan is part of Brazil’s aid programme for Africa, the state-controlled Herald newspaper said.

Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the funds would be used to support farmers who have largely failed to get loans from local banks that are still recovering from a prolonged economic crisis.

“The … programme is important for the country as it has managed to address some of the challenges we have been facing in securing lines of credit to support the agriculture sector that is the backbone of the economy,” Made told the newspaper.

Once a regional bread-basket, Zimbabwe has struggled to feed itself since 2000 when President Robert Mugabe’s government started to seize farms owned by whites to resettle landless blacks.

The agriculture sector has shown signs of recovery under a unity government set up two years ago by Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, following disputed elections in 2008.

The sector is expected to grow 33 percent in 2011, according to government projections. Production of the staple maize grain has risen from 400,000 metric tonnes in 2008 to 1.45 million tonnes this year, but is still below a national requirement of 2 million tonnes.

in Reuters.

Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, imposed travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe and senior officials from his ZANU-PF party almost a decade ago over charges of rights abuses and vote rigging.

But the sanctions, which Mugabe argues are punishment for his seizures and redistribution of white-owned commercial farms to landless blacks, have traditionally not been applied for meetings organised by the United Nations.

On Wednesday, the official Herald newspaper said Mugabe had scrapped a trip to Switzerland for a summit of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) after his wife Grace, Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, chief spokesman George Charamba and three other senior officials were refused travel permits.

The Zimbabwe government has lodged a protest with both the Swiss government and the United Nations, and the Herald quoted a foreign affairs official as saying:

“We noted that this was a highly regrettable decision which was a clear violation of the United Nations headquarters host agreement and Zimbabwe’s sovereign right to determine the composition of its delegation.”

Mugabe’s spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The Swiss embassy in Harare confirmed some visa applications were turned down but declined to comment on charges that Switzerland had joined the EU’s position against ZANU-PF although it is not a member of the EU.

State media quoted Charamba as saying Zimbabwe had noted the Swiss position as a sign of changing times, and, without giving any details, promised an appropriate diplomatic response.

Mugabe’s ZANU-PF has in the past threatened to target for seizure foreign-owned firms from countries supporting sanctions against Zimbabwe, and is now seeking to force mining firms to transfer majority shareholding to local blacks.

Early this year, ZANU-PF launched an anti-sanctions campaign, collecting signatures countrywide, and officials say it will soon approach international courts to challenge the legality of the current sanctions.

Mugabe, who was forced into a power-sharing government with rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, says sanctions against his party are illegal, not targeted as argued by Western powers.

The 87-year-old leader says the sanctions have hit state-owned companies and Zimbabwe’s ability to borrow money abroad.

Critics say Zimbabwe’s economic recovery from a decade-long crisis caused largely by ZANU-PF policies will be slow and hard for as long as Mugabe pursues his controversial black empowerment programmes.

in Reuters.

A BBC television programme, Panorama, revealed the existence of the camp or camps on Monday. The report said the main torture camp was known as “Diamond Base” and comprised military tents enclosed by razor wire.
The torture camps are reported to be near the eastern border of the country not far from the Mozambican border in an area known as Marange. The company that runs the mine is reported to belong to a close personal friend of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, known for his increasingly tyrannical behaviour. A former camp inmate said: “It is the place of torture where sometimes miners are unable to walk on account of the beatings.” The released prisoners all requested anonymity. One victim, who still can barely walk said: “They beat us 40 whips in the morning, 40 in the afternoon and 40 in the evening.” He added: “They used logs to beat me here, under my feet, as I lay on the ground. They also used stones to beat my ankles.” An AP report says diamonds were discovered in the Marange region in 2006 and when the extent of the diamond field was known in 2008, the army cleared the area of civilian miners, some 200 of whom were killed. The army also used helicopter gunships on the civilians. Human rights monitors also reported rape and forced labour.
It is not yet clear whether only the local population are forced to work in the mines, or whether political opponents have been sent to this Zimbabwean miniature “Gulag”. Meanwhile, the EU wants to lift its ban on Zimbabwe’s “blood diamonds” and says two mines from Marange (possibly those using the forced labour) now meet international standards. The Telegraph reports that this decision is despite the BBC reports. The EU claims to want more “proof” on the matter. The New York Times says Britain has called on Zimbabwe to investigate the allegations. Zimbabwe has offered no immediate comment.

Les trois ministres, dont le président du parti d’opposition, le MDC-N, ainsi que 18 responsables de ce parti ont été détenus après avoir assisté à une réunion politique, a indiqué Kurauone Chihwayi, porte-parole du MDC-N, une formation issue d’une scission du Mouvement pour le changement démocratique (MDC).

“Ils n’ont pas été inculpés. Ils venaient d’un meeting que la police estimait illégal. (. . . ) Ils ont été relâchés à minuit sans qu’aucune charge ne soit retenue contre eux”, a ajouté M. Chihwayi.

Les responsables du parti ont été arrêtés à un barrage routier, puis détenus au poste de police de Hwange, selon lui.

La police zimbabwéenne n’était pas joignable pour commenter l’incident lundi matin.

Les partis politiques, syndicats et organisations de la société civile n’ont pas le droit d’organiser des réunions de plus de quatre personnes sans avoir obtenu l’autorisation préalable d’un officier supérieur de la police.

Les opposants à Robert Mugabe accusent la police, qui lui est dévouée, d’utiliser cette loi sécuritaire pour entraver le fonctionnement de leurs formations.

Le MDC de Morgan Tsvangirai et le MDC-N sont associés à Robert Mugabe depuis 2009 dans un fragile gouvernement d’unité nationale, ce qui n’empêche pas des ministres des deux formations de se retrouver régulièrement derrière les barreaux.

Jeune Afrique.