Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, has told South African media that he wants to see Zimbabwe elections take place in 2011 whether or not outstanding issues for the “inclusive” government are resolved. The three parties in the power-sharing government, put in place with Zuma as a key negotiator, are meeting 19 January. Two sticky issues on the agenda are the appointment of an attorney general and the reserve bank governor.
Links to other sites: allAfrica, Radio VOP, Zimbabwean, UK
Update 6 January 09:40 Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss food multinational Nestlé’s Zimbabwe operations have begun to process milk again, two weeks after suspending production because of government pressure. Government-run newspaper The Herald says workers were back in place and milk was being processed normally after a “misunderstanding” that closed the plant 23 December. The Nestlé operation is one of Zimbabwe’s largest suppliers of milk and has been running for more than 50 years.
Nestlé’s Swiss head office provided GenevaLunch with the following statement Tuesday 6 January, confirming that processing has begun again: “On 19 December 2009, Nestlé suspended the activities at its Harare factory (Zimbabwe) as normal business was no longer possible and the safety of its employees could not be guaranteed. Since then, the local Nestlé management has been in regular contact with the Zimbabwean authorities to find a solution.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé says it has closed its milk production plant in Zimbabwe after the government pressured it to take milk from a non-contracted supplier 19 December during a surprise visit from government officials. Two days later, Monday, two of the plant’s managers were called into the Harare police station for questioning, then released. President Robert Mugabe and his unity government partner Morgan Tsvangirai have both reacted with dismay to the closing, and observers in southern Africa are calling it a setback for the unity government, which has been working to convince foreign investors and aid groups to return to the country.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe struck a defiant note at a political rally Sunday 13 December in the capital Harare, telling his supporters that they must pull together to ensure they win elections next time around. His Zanu-PF party Saturday had elected him as its leader for another five years. Mugabe reminded them that the power-sharing arrangement, forced up them by the party’s poor showing at the last election, has only another year to run, and then the party should take control again. But the party meeting ended without an agreement on how Mugabe’s successor will be named, a sign that dissent runs deep, according to the Daily Nation, on AllAfrica.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica, BBC, Voice of America
A document that suggests Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts movement, illegally killed a prisoner-of-war who had been promised safe passage, fetched twice the expected amount at an auction in London Wednesday. Baden-Powell was a colonel in the British Army during the Second Matabele War in 1896 and ordered the death of Uwini, a chief who had led a rebellion in what later became Zimbabwe. The papers, which sold for £3,750, imply that he knew Uwini was to be given safe passage as part of the terms of his surrender, but was nevertheless killed. Baden-Powell’s commanding officer was too far away to be consulted and the colonel took action to save lives, he said when later investigated.
Victim of earlier xenophobic violence in S. Africa © 2008 UNHCR / J. Oatway
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has condemned the recent spate of attacks on refugees and asylum-seekers, many of them from Zimbabwe, in the Western Cape town of De Doorns, South Africa. Local officials and the South African Red Cross moved quickly to supply some 3,000 displaced people with tents, portable toilets and hot meals. It was sending two officials from its Pretoria office to assist local officials to restore order, UNHCR said 20 November.
African elephants, from a painting by Gail Van Lingen
Gland, Switzerland and Harare, Zimbabwe (GenevaLunch) – Evidence appears to be growing that poaching is on the rise in Zimbabwe and that international gangs are working with local poachers, based on converging reports from several sources. The increased poaching affects elephants and rhinos. Several species of both are on the protected species lists published by Gland-based IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).
The government-run The Herald newspaper in Harare reported 3 November that at least 200 rhinos have been poached in the past three years, “as locals increasingly network with international syndicates in the illegal trade of the horns, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism” was told by parks officials 2 November. Reporters were asked to leave the room when statistics were given for the current population. The Herald estimates the populations for white and black rhinos to be 500 and 300 respectively.
Etas project in Zimbabwe: the Roger Federer Foundation is spending some CHF80,000 a year on the project to improve the infrastructure of 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2,000 children in the Matopo region.
Basel and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer has signed a 10-year contract with Swiss bank Credit Suisse, for an undisclosed sum, the bank announced Monday 16 November. Federer, on his web site, notes that “As part of the partnership agreement, Credit Suisse will make a significant annual contribution to the Roger Federer Foundation, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and to promoting education, sports and play, particularly in Africa.” The foundation was inspired by Federer’s South African mother and currently states on its web site that its capital is CHF4 million.
The bank’s CEO, Brady Dougan, did not stint in his enthusiastic praise of the Swiss tennis star:
The UN General Assembly has approved 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions, the controversial Goldstone report into atrocities in the Gaza war in the winter of 2008/09, and recommended that the Security Council act if both Israel and the Palestinians had not conducted their own investigations within three months. CNN, New York Times
Honduras‘ former President Manuel Zelaya says the agreement reached one week ago that would have led to a power-sharing government and his reinstatement as president is dead, after the two sides failed to agree on the government by Thursday, 5 November. The Supreme Court still needs to make a recommendation to the Honduran Congress on whether Zelaya may complete his term. Al-Jazeera, BBC
Morgan Tsvangirai says he will end his three-week boycott of the Zimbabwean unity government “effective immediately”, and has given Robert Mugabe 30 days in which to implement his side of the bargain that led to the deal. Tsvangirai walked out after Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party began to harrass Tsvangirai’s MDC party members. Al-Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian
A UN official in charge of investigating charges of torture who was invited to Zimbabwe is on his way to Johannesburg, South Africa Thursday 29 October after being denied entry to the country at the airport in Harare. Manfred Nowak, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, told reporters that his invitation had been rescinded by the Zimbabwean ministry of foreign affairs when he arrived in Harare late Wednesday evening 28 October. Immigration officials would not let him into the country despite an invitation from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The government of Zimbabwe has been split since Tsvangirai walked out two weeks ago, complaining of a concerted campaign of violence by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF supporters against Tsvangirai’s MDC party members. A team from the regional grouping Southern Africa Development Community was expected in Harare to mediate the political crisis Thursday. AP,BBC
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met for four hours, the first meeting since Tsvangirai pulled out of the coalition government in mid-October, and his spokesperson says the talks ended with no agreement. “We are worlds apart on fundamental issues,” the BBC quotes him as saying. The pullout and failed meeting effectively leave Zimbabwe without an elected government: the coalition was formed in February 2009 under pressure from outside the country after election results showing Mugabe as winner were contested.
Links to other sites: AllAfrica, AP/Yahoo, BBC,
An outbreak of cholera in distinct parts of Zimbabwe has left five people dead, reports the local state-run media. 117 new cases were confirmed around the country, according to the Zimbabwe’s Health Secretary, Gerald Gwinji. The dead were from Mashonaland and the Midlands, according to Gwinji. He said they were “religious objectors” who refused to seek medical help.
Zimbabwe’s population suffered the worst epidemic of cholera in over a decade between August 2008 and last June, and an estimated 4,200 people died and over 100,000 became ill, due to the country’s crumbling infrastructure and health services. AFP, The Herald
Update 8 October Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, is making an unannounced trip to Geneva to take part in Telecom, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department (DFAE) has confirmed to GenevaLunch. Mugabe arrived in Geneva 7 October. [Ed. note: Telecom TV reports on his appearance at the show and his remarks which "baffled the media."]
Right to visit UN overrides Swiss sanctions
Mugabe is under visa and financial sanctions from the United States, the European Union and Switzerland, but as the host country of a UN-sponsored event, Switzerland cannot ban his visit to a UN event, a spokesperson in Bern says. The situation is identical to that in New York in September, when Mugabe attended the General Assembly of the UN.
Mugabe is explicity banned from entering Switzerland, except for UN events. Two accounts with a value of CHF547,000 have been blocked in Switzerland in connection with the sanctions, which were put into effect because of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and to prevent money laundering.
Switzerland’s legal obligations as the host country also mean Mugabe cannot be shadowed constantly during his visit to ensure that he and his entourage do not have contact with financial advisors or bankers, although the penalties are steep for a bank dealing with any of the 240 people on the Zimbabwe sanctions list.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Nestlé SA in Vevey says its subsidiary in Zimbabwe will stop buying milk Sunday 4 October from Gushunga Dairy, reportedly owned by Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. The Mugabes are both on Swiss and European sanctions lists which forbid financial transactions with over 200 individuals and some 40 companies in Zimbabwe, but the sanctions do not apply to transactions within Zimbabwe. The multinational in Vevey has been under pressure this week, particularly from British and South African media, for buying the milk.
The Vevey office issued a statement Friday morning 2 October: “The Dairy Board of Zimbabwe today informed the Gushungo Dairy Estate, and the seven other farms with whom Nestlé began working on a temporary basis in February 2009, that it is now in a position to resume purchasing their milk. Nestlé Zimbabwe therefore will no longer be receiving milk from these eight farms from Sunday 4 October.”
GenevaLunch asked Nestlé about the timing of the announcement from the board, coming right on the heels of public criticism of Nestlé.
Targeted sanctions on leading Zimbabwe government officials, in place since disputed presidential elections in 2002, will not be lifted soon, according to a high-level delegation from the European Union (EU) which ended a two-day mission to Zimbabwe 13 September.
After a meeting with President Robert Mugabe, Gunilla Carlsson, Sweden’s international development minister, said “The political agreement was an important step forward, but much needs to be done. The key to re-engagement is the full implementation of the political agreement“. Mugabe has called for a lifting of the EU sanctions, arguing “sanctions are serving no humanitarian purpose, they are causing lots of suffering among the people right at the bottom”.
The EU is Zimbabwe’s main donor and its aid budget is currently frozen at €90 million. A Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting 8 September called for Western sanctions to be lifted. Al-Jazeera, The Sunday Telegraph
Southern African nations meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo,8 September called for an end to Western sanctions on Zimbabwe. Sanctions have been in place since before a unity government was formed in 2008 with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The call to lift sanctions is seen as a significant victory for Mugabe, who says that the country urgently needs $10 billion in development aid. Tsvangirai has called for the full implementation of the accords before sanctions are lifted.
Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa and a key member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), said at the beginning of the conference that he hoped the Zimbabwe government’s divisions could be healed quickly in order for foreign aid to be resumed. At the end, he said that he now sees no reason why conditions should be imposed before lifting sanctions. BBC, Reuters, AllAfrica
South African President Jacob Zuma is in Harare, Zimbabwe today 27 August to meet with members of Zimabwe’s unity government and to convey South African displeasure with the lack of progress in implementing an agreement between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU party and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai. He is conveying a message from the South African ruling party ANC, African National Congress, that criticizes Mugabe for his “adolescent and deviant” behaviour. Discord between the two sides in Zimbabwe’s government has left ministerial posts unfilled, and some MDC members of parliament are still in jail. There are rumours that Mugabe is ill and being treated in a clinic in Dubai. He has not been seen in public since Tuesday 19 August. AllAfrica, Mail&Guardian,The Times
The United Nations is warning that six million people are without safe water and five million face starvation in Zimbabwe, as the country struggles to move out of the economic crisis that has provoked disease and severe food shortages. In the 12 months from August 2008 to July 2009 cholera took the lives of 4,288 people, with nearly 100,000 people ill from the disease. The figures and comments were given by Agostinho Zacarias, UN Development Programme representative, at a World Humanitarian Day conference in Zimbabwe. AllAfrica, CNN
A bus trying to overtake on the road from Harare to Masvingo in Zimbabwe, 88 km south of the capital, overturned after a head-on collision, killing 33 people. The country’s roads are in very poor condition after years of neglect and traffic controls are rare.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Roger Federer gave a lesson in how to deal with a big serving giant when he swept past Croation Ivo Karlovic in straight sets, 6-3 7-5 7-6, breaking serve twice with some superb returns of service and barely dropping a point when on serve himself.
Tommy Haas pulled off the shock of the day with a rarely seen display of serve and volley tennis that proved too much for fourth seed Novak Djokovic. His prize will be an encounter with Federerer.
International humanitarian groups launched a new appeal for donor funds for Zimbabwe under the umbrella Cap (Consolidated Appeals Process), asking for a 30 percent increase in aid to get the country back on its feet. Cap is a short-term humanitarian financing tool which is combined with other funding but the launch of the new appeal 1 June is unusual in that it goes beyond emergency funding to providing recovery aid, in recognition of progress made by the Inclusive Government formed in February 2009 by the two main parties.
Zimbabwe is still deep in crisis, with AllAfrica (UN Irin) noting that in March, when an initial appeal had reached $719 million for basic aid, “Six million people had limited or no access to safe water and sanitation; 1.5 million children required support to access education; 800,000 people were in need of food aid, and 44,000 children younger than five years needed treatment for severe acute malnutrition.”
Zimbabwe will receive $22 million from the World Bank, the first money from the bank since 2000, but it falls far short of the $8.5 billion economically-strapped Zimbabwe has been seeking. The World Bank calls it a first step, saying it will see how the country deals with debt reduction, reports the BBC. Background, World Bank
The four-year-old grandson of Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangerai, drowned in a swimming pool at the family home in Harare Sunday. The child, Sean Tsvangerai, was the son of Garikai, the political leader’s second son, who lives in Canada and who has been in Zimbabwe since his mother’s death less than a month ago: Susan Tsvangerai died in a highway accident when a truck ran into the car she was traveling in with her husband. Morgan Tsvangerai had only recently returned to work after his wife’s death. He was at what the BBC describes as a bonding sessions between the two political groups that make up the unity government when he was called away by this latest family death. All Africa carries a report from the government-published Herald newspaper that President Robert Mugabe addressed the unity government retreat Saturday then flew back to Harare.
Update 4 April Prisoners in Zimbabwe are dying from malnutrition and disease due to lack of supplies and inhumane conditions, reports a documentary by the South African Broadcasting Association, released Tuesday 31 March. It shows images of men too emaciated to stand or bring food to their mouths. “Zimbabwe is undergoing an humanitarian crisis, with a dearth of food for the majority of the country’s population, a collapsed economy and uncontrolled inflation,” says Al Jazeera, which features the Zimbabwe prison story, saying that “the prison service remains low on the [new unity government's] list of the priorities.” Its article includes an interview with a government official whose calls the prison situation “desperate.” Ed. note: the broadcast is not available for Internet viewing.
Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, was dead at the scene of a crash that has put her husband in hospital in “stable” condition. The pair were traveling to a rally 60km from the capital, Harare, reports Al Jazeera, when they were hit by a “haulage truck” whose driver appears to have fallen asleep at the wheel. The couple were married for 31 years and have six children, says the wire service. The BBC notes that traffic accidents are common in Zimbabwe, where vehicles are often in poor shape and speeding and drink driving are common.
