News, Vol. 27, No. 2

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Alternative title Zimbabwe News Author/Creator Zimbabwe African National Union Publisher Zimbabwe African National Union (, Zimbabwe) Date 1996-02-00 Resource type Magazines (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Zimbabwe, South Africa, China Coverage (temporal) 1996 Source Northwestern University Libraries, L968.91005 Z711 v.27 Rights By kind permission of ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front. Description Editorial: Opposition for the sake of opposition non-starter. Human Rights parameters. Cover Story: Presidential Election campaign. Talking Point: Flowers, Zebras, squatters and you. Church News: Male and Female He created them. Special Feature: President Cde. R.G. Mugabe at 72. Reconciliation on the crossroads in South Africa. The decrease in government revenue. Health Line: Traditional healers have made great strides. Hope for the partially sighted. AIDS: 1.8 million HIV positive in SA. Women's Forum: Women towards equality with men. News Update: Court rules on public order. Iraq—five years after the Gulf War. There is but one China. The world's hot spots. Viewpoint: The President's shocking statement. Sports: Africa Cup of Nations Draw. Format extent 28 page(s) (length/size)

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http://www.aluka.org ZANU P

ZANU P Unity, Peace and Dae 1-met Zimbabwe News Official Organ of ZANU PF Department of Information and Publicity, 144 Union Avenue, Harare, Tel: 790148 Volume 27, No. 2 1996, Registered at the G.P.O as a Newspaper $2.50(incl. sales tax) 'resident marches taowards victory Robert I Gabriel Mugabe turns 72 ,omosexuality itnd the right :o choose equality with men

Zimbabwe News Official Organ of ZANU PF Contents EDITORIAL (I) (H) COVER STORY: TALKING POINT: CHURCH NEWS: SPECIAL FEATURE: HEALTH LINE: WOMEN'S FORUM: NEWS UPDATE: VIEWPOINT:. SPORT. Opposition for the sake of opposition non-starter ...... Human Rights parameters ...... Presidential Election cam paign ...... Flowers, Zebras, squatters and you ...... M ale and Fem ale He created them ...... President Cde. R.G . M ugabe at 72 ...... Reconciliation on the crossroads in South Africa ...... The decrease in government revenue ...... Traditional healers have made great strides ...... Hope for the partially sighted ...... AIDS: 1.8 m illion HIV positive in SA ...... W omen towards equality with men ...... Court rules on public order ...... Iraq- five years after the Gulf W ar ...... There is but one China ...... The worlds' hot spots ...... The President's shocking statement ...... Africa Cup of Nations Draw ...... I £ 0u- Zimbabwe News is the official organ of the ZimbabweAfrican National Union (ZANU PF) and is produced on the authority of the Central Committee by the Department of Information and Publicity, Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co., No. 14 Austin Road, Workington, Harare. World Copyright, Central Committee (ZANU PF) Editorial Council: Cde. N.M. Shamuyarira, Cde. C.C. Chimutengwende, Cde. C. Ndhlovu, Cde. S. Kachingwe, Cde.A. Sikhosana, Cde. M. Munyati. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 2

EDITORIAL I Opposition for the sake of opposition non-starter The campaign is on for the March 16-17 Presidential elections. The outcome, however, is already being reflected in the campaign styles and methods of the three candidates: ZANU PF's Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, retired Bishop Abel Muzorewa of United Parties and Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole of ZANU (Ndonga). Cde. kicked off his campaign by addressing a series of rallies in the rural areas. At the time of writing, he had covered Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West Midlands Provinces. At the same time, three of his lieutenants - Second ZANU Pf Secretaries Dr. and Cde. as well as the national Party Chairman, Cde. , were covering other parts of the country. ZANU PF's rallies are characterised by high attendance figures and uproarious enthusiasm for the speakers. Central to the ruling Party's campaign message is the issue of land restitution - the acquisition of derelict and or, underutilised farms for resettlement purposes. Cde. Mugabe has made it clear at his rallies that ZANU PF is willing to negotiate with those whose farms are identified for acquisition and resettlement purposes through the-soon-to-be established Provincial Land Commissions but could be forced to simply designate them if thA farmers were not forthcoming. That a few occupied vast tracts of land while millions were either landless or squeezed on tiny unproductive acres of land was a situation that could not be allowed to continue. It is unfortunate, however, that some Cabinet Ministers are reluctant to commit themselves on the land issue, according to Cde. Mugabe's rally in Muzarabani, but it is more than gratifying for the electorate to note that the rulling Party's First Secretary has promised to personally involve himself in seeing to it that land was equitably redistributed amongst the people of this country. In a conspicuous contrast to the lively ZANU PF programme, Bishop Muzorewa started off his campaign with a tired rally in Harare's suburb of Glen Norah. There he addressed a crowd of about 700 people transported from all over the country - the majority of whom were from Manicaland, his home province. Bishop Muzorewa spent all his time at the rally trying in vain to exonerate himself from the many atrocities he committed together with Rhodesia's rebel prime minister, ]an Smith. As for Ndonga's Ndabaningi Sithole, he had not addressed any rally at all - two weeks after registeiing his candidature. Muzorewa and Sithole's half-hearted approach to the presidential election is significant for three reasons. First, the opposition Parties they lead lack definitional authenticity. Their Parties were formed in the interest of furthering the agenda of Western capitalism. Their Western mentors provide funds and because the two have to justify expenditure of the money provided, they have to be seen to exist by making some virulent anti- ZANU PF statements in the media. The second reason is that they have a tiny group of gullible supporters who hardly form a credible audience in any given locality. This is why they have to transport these supporters from around the country to their rallies. The third reason is that both leaders present no credible arguments for their abandoning religious vocation in favour of politicaPgambling. Their only argument, it appears, is to oppose ZANU PF for the sake of opposing. This scenario is too comical to constitute a serious challenge to the hegemonic leadership of the ruling Party led by the examplary revolutionary leadership of President Robert Gabrial Mugabe. Aluta continua! ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2

EDITORIAL II Human Rights Parameters In this isssue, we are publishing a pastoral statement by the Catholic Bishops' Conference. Apart from the statement's importance on the ethical issues it raises, the statement is important in its affirmation that human rights are not man-made because: "They are given to us by God." Human rights are God-given. They are therefore inalienable. The perspective over the basic substance of human rights is now being blurred by the irrelevant inclusion of such abnormal novelties as homesexual "rights", women's "rights", animal "rights", and other man-made "rights". The promotion of man-made "rights" is a strategy of the capitalist West aimed at side-tracking the true struggle for human rights by introducing a confusing motley of "rights". Gullible Zimbabweans are now joining the fad of "human rights" organisations whose agenda is the destabilisation of popularly elected governments. The campaign for human rights should start and end with equal access to land, guaranteed employment to earn a living, unrestricted opportunities for education and health care, guaranteed housing for all, and the right to a decent means of livelihood. Denial of these basic components of the human rights perspective constitutes diabolic violation of God-given human rights. The Zimbabwe media carry innumerable stories of the landless and homeless Zimbabweans who are habitually referred to as "squatters". God did not create squatters. Squatters face a manmade plight. Squatters are created by a politico- economic system that propounds the false ideology that God-iven land should be divided among rich land owners. Since land is a finite resource, its ownership by a privileged few consigns masses of people to landlessness and the attendant problemst of scrounging for livelihood. Although the United Nations Charter dearly lists all the basic elements of the human rights issue, the so-called human rights movement purposely devotes its energies to irrelevant issues for idealogical reasons. Avoiding the basic issues on the definition of human rights services the interests of the ideology of Western capitalism which holds that private ownership of God-given means of livelihood is democratically sacrosanct. In reality, this assertion is the worst form of sacrilege extant. The United States Government agency, USAID, has recently established Headquarters for "human rights" groups iv Southern African countries. Working from a budget of US $10 million (Z$94 million), the new movement has a Zimbabwean as its Chief Executive and letters have been circulated to entice other Zimbabweans to submit proposals on their human rights strategies for prices ranging from several thousands of US dollars to millions. Past experience has shown that US-sponsored "human rights" groups are disguised as such but direct their attention towards bolstering the cause of opposition parties in indiscriminate pursuits for "multi-party democracy". This tactic has at heart the agenda for destabilising popularly elected black governments. This makes the whole movement a satanically comouflaged form of racism. Opposition parties are not God-given. They are man-made to promote destabilisation in order to justify intervention by neo-colonialist manipulators in the circles of modern US imperialism. It is a sad commentary on African governments why they permit these neo-colonialist forces to flourish in our midst without the hand of patriotic authority slapping them in the face. 0 ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 Under the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, the British Government provided 20 million pounds (Z$290 million) to buy farms for resettlement on a dollar to dollar basis. About 60 000 families, explained the President, were resettled before farms were sold out in 1988. The President said he would personally be involved in the acquisition of the farms because some of his Ministers lacked commitment on the land issue. Interestingly, on the announcement by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) that it will close some of its grain depots or just operate seasonally because of economic reasons, a decision that has riled a lot of communal farmers, Cde. Robert Mugabe said the Government was never informed about that and was not aware of it. He said the Government had spent a lot of money building these depots and there was no way the depots would be closed. He castigated some junior officers for misinterpreting Government intentions as some of them sold shares in state- owned companies without the knowledge of the Government. Cde. Mugabe reminded people in Muzarabani and Kachuta that it was in the Mashonaland Central Province that ANU PF Presidential Election Campaign kicked off in earnest on Wednesday, 7 February in the Mashonaland Central Province where the Party's First Secretary and Presidential candidate, Cde. Robert Mugabe addressed two rallies - at Muzarabani Growth Point and at Kachuta Business Service Centre. During his inaugural campaign rallies, President Cde. Mugabe told crowds of well over 5 000 at Muzarabani and Kachuta that the ruling Party had the plight of its people at heart and was fully committed to the resettlement programme. As such, Cde. Mugabe tasked ZANU PF Provincial Councils throughout the country to establish land commissions to speedily identify farms in their areas so that thousands of landless people can be resettled. He said the Mashonaland West Provincial -Council had already identified some farms they thought were being underutilised and had submitted the list to him. Cde. Mugabe observed that there were vast tracts of underutilised land and some of the farms were being used to keep game while millions of people had no land - this, he said, could not be allowed to continue. He said he would personally see to it that more farms were identified to resettle people. Asking the Mashonaland Central Province to start discussing the issue with commercial farmers, Cde. Mugabe said the resettlement programme was being slowed down because of lack of funds. He however, assured the gatherings that the Government will be forced to grab land for its people if the British Government did not provide the funds to buy the farms. "We can't keep on using our tax pay- * er's money to buy our land. That money has to be used for other things. If the British fail to give us money we shall not fail to buy our land," he told people in Muzarabani. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 N the war began in earnest. "It's significant that I kick off my cam paign from here and proceed to scoe a result in victory," he said. The Presidential Election is set for March 16-17. Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole of ZANU (Ndonga) and Bishop Abel Muzorewa of the United Parties, notorious for their double-tracking and traitorship during the liberation struggle, are opposing Cde. Mugabe in the election. Thus Cde. Mugabe told the gatherings that the people would never forgive Muzorewa for atrocities he committed during the pre-independence era. He said Muzorewa and Sithole had ganged up with Rhodesian rebel prime minister Ian Smith and together carried out atrocities which the people could never forgive them for. Cde. Mugabe's campaign trail would see him cover the rest of the country in time for the March election. ZANU PF Second Secretaries and Vice Presidents, Cdes. Simon Muzenda and Joshua Nkomo as well as the national Party chairman, Cde. Joseph Msika, also have busy campaign schedules throughout the country to ensure that not only does the President win the election but do so resoundingly. - ZIANAHERALD-ZIMBABWE NEWS 0 For your detailed news behind the headlines Get a copy of The Zimbabwe News magazine from your nearest newsstand now!

Flowers, Zebras, squatters and you by Jnr. EYOND a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans in the finite space of a planetary ecosystem as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive. - Pardot Kynes, First Planetologist of Anakis, DUNE. Recently the Reserve Bank announced that interest rates were going to remain hi.gh because inflation had risen from around 22 percent to about 26 percent. Monetary supply was consequently being tightened. This statement reflects a Political Economic decision. According to monetarists, the greatest evil in the Ecbnomic life of any country is inflation. Having accepted the political philosophy of Market Economics we have to follow the thinking of the Monetarists. Never mind that the majority of people in the country are currently subsisting on chibage (green maize), mazhanje (wild fruit), munyevhe (wild vegetable), howa (mushroom) and mangoes. The same old basket is used to determine the consumer Price index and appropriate adjustments are made to interest rates and money supply. The political attitude of policymakers has increasingly become a cause for concern. It seems as if we no longer have any domestic agenda in our economic thinking. Theory rules supreme and reality is sacrificed on the altar of expediency. As a result, we are increasingly out of touch with the reality on the ground, and confuse the perceptions in our minds for reality. Sit back for a minute as we wander through the following scenarios. You are driving behind a Mazda B2200 pick-up. Seated in the draughty back are three African women and an old African man. The women have got scarves around their heads to protect them against the cold moist wind. They have their backs against the cab. The old man is holding onto the tailboard and smiles woefully as he watches you change the gear of your Mercedes - he knows he is going to get A spray of cold fine mist when you overtake the pick-up. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 As you drive by the front cab you notice the driver - obviously a farmer he is concentrating on the road ahead with his pipe firmly entrenched to the side of his mouth. Seated comfortably next to him is a healthy, fine looking labrador. The way the two are seated they could almost be kin - whiteman and his best friend - the dog. You zoom by and rush on to your important appointment - the old man and three women are the least of your worries - why should they be anyway? . . that is politics and you are not interested in politics. The next day you are driving to Kariba with your family. You are struck by the changing landscape. Almost every five kilometres you notice these huge plastic factories covering a hectare or so of land - flowers - the new money spinner in Zimbabwe. Don't worry about the starving peasants. We are talking forex! But wait, notice how more and more "wild" animals can be spotted soon after you leave town. Side by side with the Aberdeen Angus Bull, zebras, kudus, impala, eland can be seen all along the vast tracts of untilled land along the road. Its a new and interesting development - more commonly known as game ranching. It shows that all this hogwash about unutilised land is ZANU PF propaganda. Any idea what price we are talking about for these animals? ($14 000 for sable, $20 000 for giraffe, $15 000 for hippo and about $1,000 for impala.) There is a great deal of money to be made in game ranching through the sale of game products, breeding and tourism - it's all for the benefit of the country. The other day you heard about the five families of "squatters" who were evicted from one of those farms. Of all things, people just set up home on someone's land - no "civilised" society could possibly put up with that. Animals from Gonarezhou, yes - but not these munts from Porta farm! Our thinking patterns control our actions ... The German business community is upset when we talk of white "settlers" but no eyebrows are raised when we talk of black "squatters"! The other day your "newspaper boy" left a copy of The Herald. On the front page was the picture of a wizened black man standing in the centre of a circle. The newspapar dubbed it "Manjengwa's circle of despair". His boss had confined Manjengwa to this circle because after more than two decades of.service, the former had decided that the latter was lazy and since he refused to leave he could stand in the sun and do nothing in the circle. The story makes you mad. How can this man treat another so brutally? These whites think they are still in Rhodesia! You of course would never have to put up with such treatment what with all your diplomas and degrees - no white man would dare treat you that way. Two questions here. Why did Manjengwa allow himself to be subjected to such humiliation? And further, how could Manjengwa's co-workers carry on working when one of their own was being subjected to such inhuman treatment? An injustice against one is an injustice against all? Workers' solidarity ... that all went out with ESAP? You turn the pages ... you are worried about the continuing drop in the value of the zimdollar - there is that shipment coming in from Tokyo . . . how are we doing against the Japanese Yen? And what was that story about? We argue that the keystone to the successful implementation of ESAP II is the inclusion by government of a well designed Land Appropriation and Redistribution programme. A successful land reform programme will ensure that the 80 percent of Zimbabweans who live in the rural areas can become not only self-sufficient but also finally be able to effectively participate in the economic life of this country. If the present economy is developed, the tax and subsidy burden on the urban taxpayer will be lifted. We would like to reiterate that point and the scenarios drawn above are meant to highlight areas of concern about attitudes, not only those of white people towards Africans in this country, but also the nonchalance that has crept into the attitude of Africans towards other Africans. The sad truth is that this couldn't-careless attitude has slowly permeated even Continued on next page lows Zsiq Flowers, Zebras, squatters and you Continued from previous page into those who are charged with the all important task to make and implement policies that effect the lives of African people. The bureaucrat no longer feels the urgency of the land issue - it has dragged on for 16 years anyhow and the African peasants will always get by somehow. Never mind that so many workers have been retrenched and the traditional income drift from the urban to rural areas has consequently been curtailed. The bureaucrat thinks nothing of sending a bulldozer to raze a "squatter" settlement on a farm inspite of the fact that no alternative accommodation or means of subsistence are available to the "squatter" families. What is a "squatter" in the first place? The bureaucrat cannot see that the introduction of wild animals under the guise of game ranching is meant to mask the underutilisation of prime cropping land as a last ditch attempt at escaping designation. The bureaucrat does not remember that this nation has set aside almost one sixth of the total land area in this country for National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries and therefore animals should not occupy land that is best suited for crop. ping and habitation by human beings - most of whom in this country are the land hungry black peasants! The bureaucrat overlooks the fact that communal areas contribution to agriculture Gross Domestic Product almost doubled from 25 percent in 1980 to 47 percent in 1985 proving how industrious the communal area peasants are and that the main impediment to the further development of the communal areas has been the lack of access to the vast tracts of fertile and underutilised land currently held by the minority European community. ' The bureaucrat forgets that the land in question was obtained by coercive and outright forcible means during the colonial era and that it is incumbent upon the bureaucrat to redress the imbalances of the past. The bureaucrat has joined the ranks of the deprived and oppressor - willingly or by default. And so have you. By acquiescing t9 the nation that the old man should sit at the back of the truck and not own and drive it. By ignoring Manjengwa's circle of despair and the wider circle locking in the communal area peasants in the environmentally degraded communal lands. By upholding animal rights ahead of African rights you tacitly qualify for membership of the Society for Continued Cruelty to Africans (SCCA). It is time YOU became interested in the broader political economic affairs of this Nation. Food For Thought - Major Land Categories Land cater Communal Lands Commercial Lands Resettlement Areas Parks and State Area Million Ha. 16,3 13,5 33 Prcentage 42,0 36,2 6,8 Forest *5,6 Urban and Others 0,2 TOTAL 38,9 Source: Government of Zimbabwe 1990 Points to note:1. Land reserved for National Parks and Wildlife 2. The Preponderence of Communal Areas in marginal Agro Ecological Zones 3. The Bantustan-like dispersion of Resettlement Areas making servicing difficult, 4. The extent of European held land and convenient access to all major urban centres and markets. S. National Development calls for Collective Responsibility and Collective Action 6. Hang this map on your wall! ZIMBABWE Distribution of Major Agricutturat Land Use Categories S I HOZAMSIQUE A Major cities I ..... arge scale Commercil tarming arec 'lolwfJi) E.....ommunal forming area. ,A', 4) ...Reselttemeat area.Lw(&tI) = ...th~er land uses eg. National Paks. C*wIAOAi) R.S.A. ScnL 1:100000 ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2

Male and female He created them Pastoral statement from the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop's Conference URING the last year a heated public delate took place in our country about homosexuality. Men and women with a tendency to be attracted to persons of their own sex demanded the freedom to live according to their "sexual orientatien" and "lifestyle" as a human right, even in contradiction of the inherited culture, moral-ity and laws of the State. Another equally important development has come to our notice, though it caused little public debate: family planning agents are more and more urging people to use the ultimate and irreversible means of birth control, sterilisation. This raises some fundamental questions: do we enjoy total freedom as to how we may use our sexuality? Are there no limits imposed by human nature as created by God? Does modem biotechnology allow us to manipulate our bodies any way we want? Can we claim such wanton transgression of all limits as a human right? Which then begs the question: what are human rights? What are they based on? These questions touch on something very dose to our hearts, the family. Our culture is based on the family. And yet the family is under threat. This encourages us to write to you once more on questions related to marriage and family and to clarify those issues just mentioned. Our culture alone has no answer to these threats. We have to ask the Creator himself what he created man and woman for. Who would-have thought that something as basic as the mutual complementarity of man and woman in marriage could be questioned? And yet now we are being told that anyone has the right to choose a person even of his/her own sex as life partner, instead of someone of the opposite sex. Being fertile and giving life was regarded as a positive value. Now we are told that it is a threat to human survival and must be suppressed in any way possible. But is everything possible also permissible. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 This poses the further question: do we have the right to limitless freedom? Can we claim just about everything as a human right? Human rights based on the created order The church fully supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter of Human and People's Rights. But when people claim as a "human right" what is clearly immoral and harmful to society and its basic unit, we need to remind ourselves that we do not make "human rights" ourselves. They are given to us by God. Every person, man or woman, is infinitely precious in the eyes of the Creator who made them. The life of every human being, from the moment of conception until natural death, must be respected as something sacred that belongs to God. And God wills that we live our lives according to the nature he has given us: our nature i.e. the way we were made as men and women, imposes certain laws on us which we have to respect. What is not in accordance with.God's will as expressed in our nature cannot be claimed as a "human right." Let us apply principle to moral issues on which we wish to give you dear guidance: 1) Homosexuality and the "right to choose" Man was created for woman, and woman was created for man, and both were created for God. Man and woman are to complement each other. They are of equal dignity and value in the eyes of God, and yet different. Their mutual love in marriage is to be fruitful. Marriage is to be fulfilled in children and a family. This is the order given to humankind by God the Creator. There is no "option" or "choice". There is no "human right" to a "homosexual lifesyle". Homosexuality is a disorder. "Homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law". Christians must not practise a "homosexual lifestyle". African culture abhors homosexuality and considers ;it abnormal. wherever it exists, we do not eliminate those who suffer from it. "Men and women with deep-seated homosexual tendencies do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided". Some homosexual persons may have been born like that: they have to learn how to live with their condition, helped by the Christian community. Others have suffered a deep wound in their psyche when young, and healing may be possible. Others gain act under the pressure of a given social environment and need to be freed from such pressure. It it therefore not right for anyone, including Government, to harrass, persecute or torture people simply because they are known to have this inclination. At the same time homosexual persons have no right to propagate what some of them call their "lifestyle". Laws protecting the young from sexual abuse, whether by homosexual or heterosexual persons, are legitimate. At the same time, society must not create breeding grounds for homosexuality through overcrowding in prisons, forced separation of married men from their families, and forming an underclass of homeless people who nave no hope ever to marry and have a family. 2) The integrity of the human person Fertility is a Beautiful gift to be used if and when the parents responsible can do so, but, since sex is often used irresponsibly, it is now seen as a threat that has to be destroyed by sterilisation. This threatens the integrity and wholeness of the human person. So often in our day the sexual encounter between man and woman is no longer an expression of commitment, but has been reduced to a consumer good for momentary pleasure. Love is no longer seen as open to fruitfulness. The bodily union no longer signifies mutual personal responsibility for one another and While we want to eliminate a disease, Continued on next page

Male and female he created them. Continued from previous page for possible offspring. A basic truth of the created order is denied. Many a man no longer says, "I love you so much that I will love as father even the child that may be the fruit of our love." instead he wants to be a lover without the responsibility of a father. The woman can no longer -rely on the respect and consideration of her spouse, but feels she has to protect herself against an aggressor. As sterilisation is more and more advertised as a means of family planning, it is our duty to state unequivocally: sterilisation is morally unacceptable as a means of family planning. It contradicts human dignity. It disfigures God's creation. The spouses no longer express unconditional mutual self-giving to one another. Their sexual union, like a promise that is not kept, becomes a lie. Parents together have the responsibili. ty to decide on the size of their family. They cannot bypass their personal responsibility by some physical intervention. Fertility is an integral part of the human person, and is to be regulated through responsible action, not through mutilation of the body. Forced sterilisation, e.g. by tying the tubes of a woman during surgery when she is not aware of what is done to her, is a violation of her human dignity and a denial of her right to personal integrity. There cannot be any tnoral justification for causing such grievous bodily harm. The integrity and wholeness of the human person is at stake. The dignity of marriage as a union and communion of persons is at stake. Conclusion What we have said was in defence of God's grand design for the loving and faithful union between man and woman called marriage which, with God's blessing, is to be fruitful and become a family. These are the points we would like to stress: Social fragmentation, the destruction of family life and the isolation of the individual may well be contributing factors to the spread of homosexuality in western countries. insofar as similar trends appear in Africa, the Church must become the extended family and supportive community that people need. The image of the "Church as God's Family ..." emphasises care for others, solidarity, warmth in human relationships, acceptance, dialoue and trust". We need to teach fertility awareness to our young men and women even long before they are married. Where are the mature relatives (vatete, sekuru in Shona, obabakazi, okhulu in Ndebele) to do this teaching? We need to intensify marriage preparation. "Natural Family Planning which stresses co-operation and responsibility be. tween partners should be promoted. Men should be challenged to assume their responsibility in the home and not abandon it. The dignity of fatherhood and motherhood should be taught and recognised," said the Bishops of Southern Africa at their assembly in Namibia (IMBISA Final Report 1995), The wholeness and integrity of the person as explained in the message can only be preserved within the context of Christian monogamous marriage. The Bishops found that polygamy is still a great obstacle. In their discussions which involved also competent lay representatives "the need was expressed for suppression of the polygamous mentality of many men and a growing realisation of the position of women as persons in their own right. This should lead to a different concept of love, relationship and equality in marriage". 0 The Editor and Staff of The People's Voice and Zimbabwe News Congratulate His Excellency The President, Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe on His 72nd Birthday e wish him many more ZIMBA N YQL._27 NO. 2

Cde. Mugabe with the late First Lady, Cde. Sally and the late Secretary for Youth, Cde. Ernest Kadungure with the Movement's foundins members in Harare in 1986 ANU PF First Secretary and Presi- Mugabe, and to sensitise the nation on dent who is also the head of state the need to develop and nurture the of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde. young in preparation for their future Robert Gabriel Mugabe will this year, responsibilities in adulthood. turn 72. Thus each year since 1986, the MoveHis birthday will this year, coincide with ment celebrates with the President on the 21 st February Movement's 10th an- his birthday hence delegates to the ocniversary celebrations in Harare at the casion are also known as 21 sters. ZANU PF Headquarters. This year's celebrations mean a lot to President Mugabe, born at Kutama Mis- the President, the 21 sters and the nasion in Zvimba, led the nation to in- tion at large: For, Cde. Mugabe's birthdependence on April 18, 1980 following day comes 23 days before the Presidena bloody liberation struggle spanning 14 tial election and exactly 19 days after years. the celebrations which run from the It is due to President Robert Mugabe's 23rd to 25th February. quality leadership that the 21 st Febru- A victory in the election in which Presiary Movement was conceived and dent Cde. Mugabe is seeking a secondbrought into being 10 years ago (1986). term in office will therefore come as a The Movement is for the children aged special birthday present - and for the below 15 and is primarily two-fold: To nation, a continuity in developmental celebrate the birthday of a distinguished programmes aimed at the total eradicaleader and statesman, Cde. Robert tion of poverty. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 Members of the 21 st February Movement are children whose age does not exceed 15 and delegates (10 from each of the 10 provinces) should be above seven years. Delegates are selected by Provincial Youth League and Ministry of Education representatives. Selection is open to all including members from di§ advantaged groups such as the deaf, blind and the disabled which is in concert with Party policy which does not discriminate against any member of society but embraces all nationals. However, unlike in previous years where all 10 delegates to the celebrations were aged 7- 15, one of the 10 provincial representatives to this year's occasion will be a founding member of the Movement. This is in line with this year's theme: A Decade of Nurturing, the way Forward for the Youth. In an interview with Zimbabwe News in Continued on next page ISpecial Fillature

[. Continued from previous page Harare recently, the Secretary for Youth Affairs, Chief Air Marshall (Rtd) Cde. , said the decision to include a founding member in the delegations was to assess the achievements of the Movement over the past decade. "The important message is that this is a year to evaluate closely what has been achieved over the last ten years, and in the same vein, use the experience gained as the planning basis for future action," said Cde. Tungamirai, adding: "We would like to see also if the founding members have practically emulated the Party leadership and whether they are growing along the virtues and positive values that the President upholds." Founding members of the Movement who were 10-15 in 1986 are now in their twenties. ZANU PF, through its youth wing, seeks to nurture the young along the examplary leadership of President Mugabe which has undoubtedly guided and inspired the nation to greater heights socially, economically and politically. Since 1980, Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe has excelled beyond expectations in all fronts. He has demonstrated an immense love for his country and countrymen through his policy of reconciliation; and immeasurable courage and determination in rebuilding the economy so heavily battered by Ian Smith's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence* (UDI) via the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). Needless to say he has led the Party, Government and the nation with consistent honesty and fairness that has since put many a foe to shame thus winning many accolades and decorations from the international community and institutions for both himself and Zimbabwe. His decisiveness on the political front has been applauded by the world's progressive community. The President's foresight and wisdom helped restore order in Lesotho and retained peace in Mozambique. Today, President Mugabe, together with other African leaders, is/ working tirelessly towards the realisation of peace in Angola and the restoration of order and sanity in Nigeria. Back home, Cde. Mugabe's high degree of community and social consciousness steered the nation off a looming catastrophe following a couple of devastating droughts by giving out to the ruralfolk maize and through a child suo- plementary feeding scheme for the under-fives. Arguably, it is due to his democratic philosophy and principles that opposition politicians exist in tranquility in the midst of society. He is also morally upright as was aptly demonstrated when he spoke unequivocally against homosexuality. Morality, he said then, was no subject to be lectured to Zimbabwe by anyone. The nation, he spoke, was mature enough to decide on its destiny. The youth theretore, particularly the 21 sters, have everything to learn from His Excellency President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. It is an honour, not a pleasure. The few who have been selected from the provinces to celebrate with the President should unreservedly feel privileged, highly-honoured and challenged. But this privilege could almost.be devoid of Reconcili the cross South By Malachia M. B he Shakespearean choice of T whether to be or not to be is facing the ANC government of Cde. Nelson Mandela. The dilemma has always been lurking in the minds of all South Africans since the Government of National Unity (GNU) was installed two years ago. The choice is whether or not it is the correct thing to seek the punishment of former apartheid officials who are known to have committed civil war crimes in the course of furthering the racist policies of the apartheid regime. The Mandela government initiated its own version of Zimbabwe's policy of reconciliation. South African reconciliation is conditioned on the findings of a "Truth Commission" whose composition was being finalised at the time of writing this article. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) will enquire into human rights crimes during the life of the apartheid regime. When the idea of the Commission was mooted at the time of independence, a provision was made that persons who knew of their implication in substance if the 21 sters do no make meaningful use of the experience. As clearly spelt-out by Cde. Josiah Tun. gamirai: "We would very much like members of the 21st February Move ment to carry back and share with the others in their respective provinces, the message they receive at the occasion from the President." As atorestated, the. Movement was con. ceived and established as a reminder to the young and tomorrow's leaders to uphold the virtues and positive values as so dearly cherished by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. May the Almighty God of All Nations bless His Excellency, the Honourable Executive President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Happy Birthday.! *The full 21st February Movement Programme is on page 11: 0 ation on roads in 4frica asvi Madimutsa human rights crimes had to' seek pardons through voluntary confessions. Former ANC and PAC guerrilla movements compiled lists of their own comrades who were to be pardoned under the provision of the GNU. On the other hand, former apartheid officials neglected to do this under the impression, perhaps, that they were still too powerful to condescend to the humiliating state of seeking pardons. Others thought that crimes of whatever gravity committed under the service of the apartheid regime were hidden secrets which no black regime would uncover. Questioned For differing reasons two opposing sides questioned the reason why the Mandela government seeks to enquire into the human rights crimes under the apartheid regime. Leftist extremists called for wholesale arrests of all suspected of involvement in apartheid crimes. Rightists called for a blanket burial of the past into the grave of magnanymous forgiveContinued on page 12 ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 President Mugabe at 72 Special Feature

Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th February 1996 14.00 - 18.00 hours 18.00 - 19.00 19.30 - 21.00 hours 21.00 hours 06.30 - 07.30 hours 07.45 hours 08.15 hours 09.00 hours 10.15 hours 10.20 - 10.30 hours 10.30 - 10.35 hours 10.35 - 10.57 hours 11.00 hours 11.00 - 11.20 hours 11.20- 11.30 hours 11.30 - 11.35 hours 11.35 - 11.50 hours 11.50 - 12.30 hours 12.30 - 12.35 hours 12.35 - 12.45 hours 12.45 - 14.00 hours 14.00 14.15 - 15.30 hours 15.30 hours 17.30 hours 19.30 -.21.00 hours 021.00 hours Day 1 - 23rd February 1996 Delegates arrive at ZANU PF Headquarters Refreshments Accreditation and issue of Uniforms DINNER RECEPTION RETIRE Day I1 - 24th February 1996 PROTOCOL PROGRAMME BREAKFAST - University of Zimbabwe Departure for Town House Arrival at Town House Procession leaves for ZANU PF Headquarters Arrival at ZANU PF Headquarters Entertainment in Auditorium Invited guests, Central Committee and Politburo members arrive Vice-Presidents arrive His Excellency the President arrives and is garlanded outside Release of celebrations balloons Group photographs His Excellency the President enters Auditorium NATIONAL ANTHEM Entertainment Opening Remarks by Air Chief Marshal [.T. Tungamirai (RTD) - Secretary for Youth Affairs His Excellency's Address Cutting of Birthday Cake Entertainment Presentation of gifts by Provincial Delegates Vote of thanks by the Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs: Cde. K.C.D. Mohadi Entertainment Luncheon hosted by the Secretary for Youth Affairs Air Chief Marshal I.T. Tungamirai (RTD) End of Protocol Programme President Departs VIPs Depart. Delegates depart from Hjarare International Conference Centre to Heroes Acre for guided tour (13 wreaths) Visit to Airport DINNER University of Zimbabwe Social Programme (film) RETIRE DAY III - 25TH FEBRUARY 1996 06.30 - 07.30 hours 08.00 hours BREAKFAST Depart to Provinces END OF PROGRAMME , ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 _ 11

Reconciliation on the crossroads in South Africa Continued from page 10 ness. This feeling was foremost in the minds of the top brass of the apartheid securocracy which did not bother to seek pardons. Tight rope In applying the policy of "truth and reconciliation", the Mandela government has to walk along a tight rope avoiding to step on the sensitive toes of the left and trying to ensure the security of the right. Practically, the government has to continue to nurse leftist hopes for economic democracy while assuring whites on the right that there will not be radical changes in their way of life. Either way, however, both sides will each press for practical tilts in favour of each side's own aspirations. Already, AZAPO radicals are threatening to sue the. government over some aspects of the policy of pardoning some culprits alleged to have violated human rights during the time of apartheid. The President of the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO), Mr. Mosibudi Mangena has said it is constitutionally unsound for the Mandela government to pardon apartheid violators of human rights laws. "it is unlawful for the South African State", he declared "to seek to immunize against prosecution of those individuals who have committed crimes against humanity such as systematic torture, genocide, the murder of civilians in prison and in residential areas around the country and cross-border attacks in neighbouring countries," Mr. Mangena cited the crime of murdering Steve Biko who was in police custody and Griffiths Mxenge, a prominent barrister who died at the hands of hit squads of the apartheid security forces. Bishop Desmond Tutu is the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. When Major- General Tienie Groenewald was asked if he was prepared to confess and askfora pardon before the Commission, he said: "I see this in a Christian way. I apologise to God. I don't see why I should apologise to Bishop Tutu," Together with General Magnus Malan, former Defence Minister, and four others, General Groenewald is being charged with the murder of 13 members of a family which supported the ANC. General Groenewald's sense of morality was irrepairably crippled by apartheid influences. As an Afrikaner member of Parliament, he hatefully sits '"where socialism is being slowly introduced into the system ... I am saying it is imperative to boost organisations like (Buthelezi's) Inkatha Freedom Party if we have to have a multiparty system. The aim in supporting the IFP is to oppose the ANC, there is no doubt about it." In trying to justify their sponsorship of Inkatha Freedom Party, Magnus Malan and Tienie Groenewald are countercharging that the former President of Transkei, General Bantu Holomisa, also supported ANC and PAC guerrilla leaders in their fight against the apartheid regime. General Holomisa has boldly answered back: "In 1991/92, 1 said publicly on television, radio and in the newspapers that the Transkei government was giving weapons to the ANC and PAC to protect their leadership. I am not apologetic for that," Holomisa gave as an example the case of ANC's Dr. Malizo Mpehle. "He was senior ANC leader in Transkei", the former Bantustan President said. "He was the doctor of President O.R. Tambo and was also the ANC doctor in Lusaka. When he returned, he applied to us, saying:he felt his life was in danger and needed weapons for self-protection." It is therefore clear that apartheid generals who were implicated in the coldblooded murder of 13 ANC funeral commemorators in KwaZulu/Natal regard themselves as having been doing for Inkatha what Holomisa was doing for the ANC and PAC. They insist that reconciliation requires both sides to be treated evenly. F.W. de Klerk and General Constand Viljoen held a meeting with Mandela whom they told to act evenly with regards to both sides. President Mandela dismissed the plea of the former apartheid rulers with the words: "I do not need to be lectured on the matter for reconciliation. I initiated the idea of reconciliation. Reconciliation is my idea and I will practise it as I see fit." Prosecution Meanwhile, the Mandela government is going ahead with the prosecution of unpardoned violators of human rights duringt,.e days of the apartheid regime, Apart from Magnus Malan, General Groenewald and others, five torrner para- military policemen are being tried in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court for the murder of "three untrustworthy" policemen" and an informer. Last year, it was revealed in court that the car in which the murdered were travelling was bombed using a remote control device "to get rid of the three policemen and the informer because they were about to leak information on the Goniwe killing of 1985." The crime was committed at Motherwell where "Nieuwoudt, Eugene deKock and possibly other unknown members of the Security Branch agreed that Charles Jack and Mbabalala Mgoduka had to be killed by means of a car bomb. In a manner not known to the State, the accused planted the bomb in the car and later Lt. Colonnel Nieuwoudt is alleged to have set off the bomb with radiocontrolled detonator." This summarises the crime for the first lot of accused former members of the apartheid security unit. The second lot facing trial is headed by General Magnus Malan and General Groenewald and included four other lesser luminaries in the dark days of the apartheid constellation. General Groenewald who was the DirectorGeneral of Military Intelligence between 1984 and 1986 is alleged to have been the brain behind apartheid's policy of the destabilisation of neighbouring States under the doctrine of Total Onslaught. He is also said to have planned -the intensification of internal repression with his initiation of the State of Emergency. He is alleged to have planned the involvement of Defence Minister Magnus Malan and Army Commander General Constand Viljoen. The prosecution alleges that some time in 1987, Lt. Major-General Groenewald approached the Inkatha leadership with offers for co-operation in fighting against the ANC and an agreement was reached for the apartheid general to arrange for training of Inkatha hit squads in SA Defence Forces' camps in the Caprivi Strip. The hit squads were duly trained and were alleged to have been responsible for a string of attacks on ANC members in KwaZulu/Natal in subsequent periods. It is being also alleged that some of them are behind the current acts of violence in this province and elsewhere. There is no doubt in the minds of serious political observers that the reconciliation process in South Africa has a long way to go before the warring sides recognise the futility of trying to destabilise the Mandela government. El ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2

The decrease in government revenues By Malachia M. Basvi Madimutsa he government is in a financial mess. The public debt is escalating to unmanageable proportions. Interest on the public debt is more than $12 billion annually - a sum far greater than the annual inflow of foreign aid. The public debt is now in the region of $36 billion and the necessity to borrow more money is pressing more than ever before. Although donors are currently praising Zimbabwe for its ability to repay debt service, the system of compounding interest with the principal originally borrowed leads to a geometrical progression of the debt burden. The government could extricate itself from the manacles of the debt fix by increasing its revenues. Among the sources of government revenue are: taxes, import and export duties, various fines, income from nationalised industries, payments for services offered by government, et cetera. Government can also increase its revenues by cutting costs in its operations, especially reducing the size of its departments. It can also commercialise the operations of parastatals to make them viable and profitable. However, prospects for balancing the government budget are a remote proposition at present Payment defaults The government has been defaulting in its payments for services rendered to a number of its departments. Workers employed by the Social Welfare Department in the distribution of food countrywide were quoted by Radio Zimbabwe as complaining that they have not been paid since May last year. They are alleging that they sometimes spend several days without food. Given the department's inability to pay them for such a long period, the accumulated arrears are obviously too large to be cleared. This is compounded by the recently introduced policy of "Stop Payments" in which the Finance Ministry does not authorise payments for work outside available finandal resources of the Treasury. At the time of writing, the Ministry of Education was facing the problem of funding scholarships for University students at the Unviersity of Zimbabwe and the Bulawayo University of Science and Technology. According to an official of this Ministry, the- unit catering for the educational requirements of excombatants and refugees had requisitioned for $150 million but was allocated only $50 million. This means educational assistance to unemployed excombatants, ex- refugees and their dependants will only cover a third of their requirements. Goromonzi High School had its electricity supply cut on January 28 by the supplier, the Zimbabwe Electricity- Supply Authority. Also affected by the cut was the office of the District Administrator. A number of rural schools have closed down due to general delapidation or lack of toilet facilities. This sad development could have been averted if the Ministry of Education had the required funds. Black entrepreneurs The "Stop Payments" regulations have hit emerging black entrepreneurs in many ways. The worst affected are building contractors. Builders are paid at the completion of three stages of their projects. They work on a proposed structure up to slab level at which they expect payments for the completed service. The next stage is to build up to window level at which they expect a second payment. From window level to completion, they expect final payment to be made. The staggered payments are designed to help emerging black building contractors to purchase the required materials and also meet their weekly wage bills. When black Building Contractors are not paid at each stage of completed work, the next stage cannot be embarked upon because there would be no money for buying the required materials and the workers would be demanding their wages before the beginning of the next stage. Black Building Contractors had been buoyed up by the policy of indigenisation of the economy through Affirmative Action but the indiscriminate "Stop Payments" regulations have delivered shattering blows to their plans. The president of the Zimbabwe Indigenous building contractors, Councillor Oliver Chidawu has been issuing a stream of Press state- ments drawing public attention to the plight of black Building Contractors. Some black contractors are owed millions of dollars by government departments. Disinvestments At a time when the nation expects the government to assert its authonty to manage the country's economy, reactionary forces here and abroad are exerting pressure upon it to privatise paratatals. Government disinvestment from parastatals is dangerous for the country in several ways. First, disinvesment means that the government shall lose income from profitable operation of the privatised en-. terprises. Losing this income means a corresponding reduction in government revenues. It has been argued that the parastatals are largely loss making. Most of these parastatals were operating profitably during the Smith regime. Why are they now making losses? Zimbabwe's parastatals are badly managed by over paid bureaucrats a large number of whom have appeared or are appearing before the courts to answer charges of fraud and embezzlement of public funds. Newspapers carry stories of top management officials alleged to have been involved in cases of fraud at work. It is general knowledge that some top management officials in parastatals are not only dverpaid but are also involved in shady deals for individual profit making. How can the parastatals be expected to be profitable to augment government revenues when their own governmentappointed executives are unpatriotic individuals bent on self aggrandizement? The President is on record as having said some parastatal top management officials have been acting outside the authority of government. Our sister paper, The People's Voice asked at the beginning of January why the government continues to employ these unpatriotic managers at the head of the parastatals they so mismanage? Some of these maladministrators sit on the boards of a dozen or more enterprises in both the public and private sectors. They are wheeler-dealers out to make money and more money for themselves and not the nation. No wonder these unpatriotic managers are in the forefront among the bourgeois demanding the privatisation of parastatals. They have the money with which they want to buy the controlling shares in the parastatals. After they have taken control, they can then make the parastatals run more profitably. El ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 2 ISpecial Feature hould traditional healers in Zimbabwe be condemned for claiming to treat the killer HIV/AIDS disease? Should they be encouraged to continue researching for a cure just as much as medical practitioners since their herbs have been able to reverse some ot the symptoms, in the process prolonging life? Some Zimbabwean healers have claimed to have found a cure, leading to a flood of people consulting them. The latest is Bulawayo-based Cornelius Ncube who has attracted a wave of criticism from health officials and the media. Health Minister Dr. Timothy Stamps has since 1994 been on the forefront of condemrning the healers, even calling for their prosecution. He maintains that herbs have a "placebo effect" treatment given more to please than benefit a patient. But traditional healers argue that condemnation of their practice is out of ignorance on how they go about their work and achieve results. "Minister Stamps is obviously not.well informed about traditional healers' AIDS trials. His understanding of traditional medical practice is also very superficial," replied Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) president, Professor Gordon Chavunduka. Chavunduka's statement sparked a debate that nearly threatened to scuttle the medical and traditional healers' combined trials for AIDS treatment. Since then the two sides have been suspicious of each other, occasionally engaging in verbal sniping. "Scientific medicine, embarrassed by its failure to' deal with the disease is desperately trying to divert attention from its inadequacies," says Ncube, who claims an 80 percent success rate in treatment. Zimbabweans, despite use of modern medicine, have maintained a religious faith in healers which dates back to the pre-colonial period, and view them as their ultimate saviours when alrelse has failed. This is backed by Chavunduka in his book Traditional Medicine in Modem Zimbabwe in which he explores the bond between society and traditional healers. Dumezweni Sidambe, who is involved in a combined traditional/medical experiment, says many of the herbs prescribed by healers contain useful substances I advise patients to seek AIDS treatment - ZINATHA President, Profes Chavunduka awaiting identification by modern science. "We should accept that by attacking the symptoms and destroying them is as good as a cure. The body is full of diseases and if life can be prolonged why not continue research with the herbs instead of attacking each other?" he asks. He adds that traditional medicine, like modem science, has been there long enough and new discoveries about new diseases are emerging using different modes of operation in diagnosis, cure and research. Zimbabwe appear to be casting their faith in healers. A relative of Ncube's former patient, reportedly suffering from AIDS, wrote an emotional letter about how the healer's method "rather worked miraculously". "He is so far much better because h now able to eat. Doctors confirmed had AIDS. We tried several places bc western and traditional but to no a% for the past eight months. He had be bedridden and used to provide bud toilet," he wrote. The letter added that the patient I recovered fully and hoped that he w6 get well. "The disease is complicated but we'.hi a variety of herbs which act as ant otics that it never recurs," says a co dent Ncube. He adds that despite condemnatior their orthodox methods, traditional h ers seem to have made great stride, research just like modern medical pi titioners. - ZIANA.

Hope for the partially sighted By Jim Kelsey, LPS specialcorrespondent n emergency lighting system enabling partially sighted people to escape safely from buildings on fire is being developed by Reading University and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNID). The University and a charitable institution have commissioned the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to conduct the studies. Over the next two years the reactions of 60 visually impaired and 12 normally sighted RNIB volunteers will be assessed by BRE to discover which of six wayfinding lighting systems can make the evacuation of buildings easier and safer in an emergency. The volunteers visual handicaps include glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). For the fully sighted, central vision is more important than peripheral vision in search and identifiable navigation tasks in buildings. However, the visually impaired experience different problems depending on their -impairment. .AMD causes a reduction in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity; a combinatiorl of AMD and cataracts tend to blur the retinal image and reduce visual acuity while glaucoma may ultimately cause tunnel vision. For the visually handicapped, by just increasing the brightness of light can cause discomfort and disorientation. Another problem that the researchers will have to overcome is the open plan office where there is no direct route and protruding desks and cupboards make it something of an obstacle course for the partially sighted in an emergency. It is hoped that future research may be able to determine emergency lighting and wayfinder systems for the visually impaired when escape routes are obscured by smoke. The RNIB estimate there are ovel one million blind or partially sighted people in the United Kingdom - one in sixty of the population. Over 700 000 adults have poor vision, unable to recognise a friend across a street or read newsprint, even with the aid of glasses. Only 18 percent of blind people. are classed as totally blind, the majority of these can distinguish between light and dark. Previous experience Initiated by Reading University, one of ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 An RNIB partially sighted volunteer negotiating an escape route lit by light emitting diodes at BRE's experimental test facility the foremost educational establishments in the UK committed to working with major research laboratories to solve everyday problems, BRE was chosen as a consultant because of its former work in recommending escape routes from aircraft, passenger ships, offshore oil rigs and buildings where smoke was the major hazard. At the end of the current tripartite research project, the findings will be made available to architects, lighting engineers, fire officers and all concerned with safety precautions in buildings. The RNIB volunteers have already begun undergoing two hour tests at an experimental facility developed by BRE's Dr. Gerry Webber at its main Garston laboratory, 50 kilometres north of London. For the experiment, which lasts about two hours, the volunteers walk through a full-scale model of a building which has a corridor, angles, recesses, steps and an exit door. Each time they traverse the building, they are guided byone of the six different emergency lighting schemes. Unseen Reading University assessors observe their hesitancies and other reactions which are also recorded on covert video cameras that film through the walls of the facility. Sight test After completing the course six times, the volunteers have a sight test and give their reactions to the various schemes. The findings take into account their type of visual disability, mobility, walking speed, performance and stress caused by the exercise. For the normally sighted, it is difficult to imagine what it is to be partially sighted. Journalists visiting the experimental facility were given an opportunity to discover what they experience by being invited to wear glasses which mimic every type of handicap ranging from tunnel vision to near blindness. The shock, when propelled into the building, causes panic. The dimly observed lighting at floorboard level is the only indication of direction as you try to feel your way, stumbling, frequently in danger of falling, along the corridor and down the stairs which suddenly become a major hazard, towards an exit door and safety. The experience is quite unnerving. The project will also draw on Reading University's investigation into how differences in colour and brightness affect the visual perception of people with varying visual impairments. This is an independent study involving the RNIB, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and ICI Paints. The six lighting schemes being evaluated at BRE are: " Traditional ceiling mounted emergency lighting fittings. " Photoluminescent wayfinding. * Electroluminescent wayfinding. * Miniature incandescent wayfinding. " LED (light-emitting diode) wayfinding. " Normal lighting. Dr. Webber's earlier research has been on ordinary emergency and wayfinding lighting systems. The volunteers used in these tests were all normally sighted and their performance provided a comparison for the present work he is conducting. BRE have issued an information paper on the work - IP 1/93. This concludes that electrically powered schemes based on electroluminescent lamps, miniature incandescent lamps and LEDs can provide better visual guidance and recognition of exit doors than the traditional high- mounted luminaire method.. ,]

AIDS: 1.8 million HIV-positive in SA Trend turns to young males By Kathryn Strachan s the new year begins, the health department estimates there are now 1,8 million people in South Africa infected with the AIDS virus. Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, director of the department's HIV/AIDS programme, says hospital studies show the doubling time of 12, to 15 months has not changed. Along with the relentless increase in the number of people with HIV, there are worrying trends in the pattern of infection. The SA Blood Transfusion Service is beginning to pick up HIV infection in 15 to 19 year-old males - previously a group with very low infection. The pattern has been that HIV infection is found in women five years earlier than in men, and teenage girls have been one of the highest infected groups. But infection is shifting to teenage boys. The perception that AIDS is a disease affecting mostly the black community is also proving to be wrong as -infection makes inroads into white communities, especially the upper income groups. The extremely high incidence of rape in the country is another factor in the es-. calating AIDS figures. The Community AIDS Centres regularly report young girls of about 12 who had been raped, and who were now HIV positive. Many rapes occurred within families. A new study conducted by Durban Univelsity's economic research unit documents for the first time the full extent of the AIDS epidemic's effect on planning. Previous planning reports indicate that AIDS is a wild card, but go no further. The new study, which focuses on KwaZulu-Natal,' where HIV levels are highest in the country, shows the epidemic will have a severe effect on the social and economic situation, says its author Professor Alan Whiteside. The study shows the population growth rate in KwaZulu-Natal will slow considerably as a result of the epidemic. Projections are that, without the AIDS epidemic, the population by the year 2016 would have been 14.3 million. With AIDS it is projected to be 10.3 million - a difference of 30 percent. The structure of the population will also change. AIDS will result in a rise in mor- tality in the under-five age group, and in the 25 to 40-year age group. This will affect the size of the labour force and the number of dependants in a household. There will be a marked rise in the demand for health and social services, most notably in the care of orphans. It is expected that by 2000 there will be up to 250 000 AIDS orphans in KwaZuluNatal alone. The elderly will also lose their adult children and thus their support structure. The study shows there are not many concrete steps planners can take with regard to the HIV epidemic. The effect will be felt over some years and generally indirectly. Where AIDS will potentially reduce demand for services, such as in education and housing, there is such a backlog that there is no question of tailoring facilities for a slowdown. Where AIDS increases demand, as in health care and social services, it will add to the existing shortfall. The questions arising from the increased load AIDS will place on health care are how large the extra demand will be, and how it will be met. In the West, care is high-tech and expensive. The cost per case in the US in 1991 was $32 000; in Switzerland in 1989 it was $57 000. By contrast, in the developing world, expensive drugs are not used, and costs are lower; in Zambia $374 per case in 1991, and in Tanzania $290 in 1990. Experience in other parts of Africa has shown that as people fall ill with AIDS they tend to seek care in hospitals. The result is - and KwaZulu-Natal's experience is beginning to show this that hospital beds are clogged up with AIDS patients. The best care for people with AIDS is symptomatic management of their diseases, which can best be done at the primary health care level - and plans will have to be made to increase staffing at clinics. Many households will face financial difficulty as income earners fall ill and die and incomes are diverted for care. This will affect the ability to pay for a range of services, from housing bonds to water and electricity. Education will be affected as the number of school-age youths will grow more slowly. By 2006, there will be 9.6 percent fewer children in the five to nine age group, and the deficit will work its way up the population pyramid int6 secondary schools. At the end of- the projection period, there will be 30.1 percent fewer children in the five to nine age group and 21.5 percent fewer in the 10 to 14 age group. The increase in mortality will result in a more rapid uptake of land for cemeteries, and the much greater number of funerals will result in a higher economic loss due to time taken off work by people attending funerals. By 2014 the number of burials a day will be three times greater than it would have been without th6 AIDS epidemic. The report shows that, by considering the potential effects of the epidemic, many of the unknowns will be dealt with and Its effect can be positively planned for. But there is also some hope emerging in the form of three major research breakthroughs in the last six months, says Karim. The first is a study in Tanzania which shows that if other sexually transmitted diseases are treated, the HIV infection rate can be reduced by up to 42 percent. While the link between HIV and other STDs is widely known, this study demonstrates exactly the huge effect a good SM programme has on AIDS transmission. Another. breakthrough is the World Health Organisation study which shows that giving the anti-retroviral drug AZT to pregnant women with HIV can reduce transmission to their babies by 66 percent. While WHO research, which includes two SA hospitals, is looking at bringing the cost of AZT down through different doses, it is finally a political de. cision. It has been suggested that countries ask the World Health Organisation to negotiate with AZT producers for lower prices. The third is inroads into microbicide research, which shows that Nonoxynol 9 spray reduces the risk for women who cannot persuade their partners to use condoms. While the rapid spread of HIV is daunting, Karim believes her directorate has Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 2

Women towards equality with men By Barbara Akakpo, LPS writer on women's issues fter several years of planning, the setting up of numerous organisationg dedicated to the advancement of women, and a positive commitment by both public and private in1.8 million HIY-positive in SA Continued from previous page raised awareness. "For the first time we have a strategy in place. We have a credible programme," she says. The fight against AIDS in SA rests on five strategies - sex education at schools; mass media campaigns which include murals in major cities and "AIDS taxis"; condom distribution; improving STD clinics; and preparing people to provide care for AID5 patients - from the hospital right through to the home. This month (February) the female con. dom will be introduced at clinics, and nurses have already been trained to promote its use. But, says Karim, staff structures still have to be set up, and bureaucracy is holding up this process.. As provinces have not yet got their structures in place, head office in Pretoria is driving many of the projects. Dr. James Mclnt~re - head of maternity at Baragwanath Hospital and AIDS expert - is concerned about the delays in appointing staff. While government directed R100m to AIDS this year, the question is whether the programme has managed to spend this budget, he says. Gauteng is the only province to have appointed a person to a provincial AIDS director post. There are government AIDS training and information centres across the country, but it requires a lot more than these structures to implement strong programmes at provincial level. In some provinces there are only one or two people running the government AIDS programme. Because of the delay in appointing staff, provinces are relying on foreign consultants - and there. by falling into the trap of importing consultants who lack both local knowledge and the ability to collaborate with other players, he says. In tackling the HIV epidemic, a uniquely local approach is needed. El ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 dividuals and bodies, women in Britain are moving ever so close to their goal of achieving equality with men. What is the evidence for this assertion? The Social Focus On Women Report, compiled by the Government's Central Statistical Office and published in August 1995, gives a clear picture of just what it is like to be a woman in the United Kingdom today. More women than men According to the report, in 1993 there were nearly 24 million women aged 16 and over in Britain, outnumbering men by 1.5 million. And the good news is that women today are living longer. For example in 1993 , three quarters of a million women in the British were aged 85 or over and, going by current trends, girls born in 1993 can expect to live to at least 79. On the work and financial front, women in the UK today are experiencing an unparalleled level of high achievement. This is hardly surprising, given that they now form a larger proportion of the labour force - 44 percent in 1994 compared with 37 percent in 1971. And in 13 percent ot couples where both partners work full time, women are earning at least Z$650 a week more than their male partners. Financial Security As more women are now in employment and with more financial security, there is an upsurge in the number buying their own homes. In 1994, 17 percent of mortgages were held solely by women, double the proportion held ten years ago. These positive trends are the result of a wide range of initiatives and a sound government framework for the development policies on women. Much qf the progress hinges on two pieces of legislation: the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Equal Pay Act of 1970 which demands equal pay for men and women doing the same work. Apart from these two pieces of legislation there are, among several others, the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Women's Issues; the Independent Equal Opportunity Commission dedicated to the elimination of sex discrimination; and the Women's National Commission, set up in 1969, which aims at ensuring that women's views are given dve weight in government's decision-making process. Important contribution There is also a whole host of nongovernmental organisations which make an important contribution to the advancement of women's issues. The National Alliance of Women's Organisations representing over 200 organisations provides information, advice and support for women all over the country. With these openings, supported by pressure groups and campaigns, women in Britain today have been making progressive inroads into some traditional male professions. For example, in 1994, around 30 percent of practising solicitors in England and Wales were women compared with 12 percent 12 years earlier. Many women are reaching top positions within their organisations, and there are several well- known role models in all spheres of life. Speaking at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Peking in September this year, Overseas Development minister Baroness Lynda Chalker explained the British Government's guiding principle to equal opportunities. She pointed to the need for a global recognition of women right to freedom of choice. "Women must be treated as individuals; we must report and support their personal choices. This holds true not only for women's sexual and reproductive health, but extends to work, education, politics as well as the management of household resources and expenditure," she said. Educational qualification This view is supported by the official Statistical Office document which reveals that more and more young women in Britain today are likely to have some form of educational qualification which, in many ways, is the key to freedom of choice. In 1993, over four-fifths of women aged 16 to 24 had some sort of educational qualification compared with just over three-fifths of those in their forties and just under half of those in their fifties. They are also marrying at older ages. The average age for women marrying for the first time was 26 in England and Wales in 1993. Also many are delaying starting their families in order to acquire Continued on next page rZambian Supreme Court recentlyruled that the requirement to obtain a police permit before any person can hold a peaceful assembly in the country is unconstitutional. The court noted that the requirement, contained in the Public Order Act, has since 1953 been used to muzzle critics and opponents as well as alleged trouble makers. Women towards equality with men Continued from previous page qualifications and achieve a career status. In 1992, for the first time, women in their early 30s were more likely, to have a baby than women in their early 20s. Compared with 1981, more women between the ages of 18 and 49 are also cohabiting - 22 percent in 1993-94 compared with 12 percent in 1981. The second policy theme of the UK's national approach to women's development is "partnership" where the governrhent is working together with employers and individuals - women and men alike - to achieve real equality. One such example is Opportunity 2000, an employer-led initiative which aims to increase the participation of women in the workplace at all levels on the basis of their ability. Nagging problem Are there particular issues'women have to watch out for? There seems to be a nagging problem about their weight. Despite the fact that over one million avidly read "Weight Watchers" magazine and many make an effort to reduce their weight through subjecting themselves to punishing dietary regimes, nearly half of Britain's women are either overweight or obese. The problem may be that younger women have a sweet tooth. Over half of 16 to 24-year-olds ate sweets at least three days a week compared with only a fifth of those aged 45 to 64. EJ Also ruled as unconstitutional is the prosecution based on the absence of such a permit. The Supreme Court said this contravened fundamental freedoms and rights guaranteed by articles 20 and 21 of the Zambian Constitution. The ruling was given by Chief Justice Mathew Ngulube in an appeal case lodged by lawyers of Zambia main opposition Party, the United Independence Party (UNIP), Sebastian Zulu and Patrick Mvunga. The two had challenged the constitutionality of the permit requirement, contained in Section 5(4) of the said Act. The Chief Justice also ruled that the provision which exempted holders of certain offices from obtaining police permits for assembly was discriminatory. The two lawyers had lodged the appeal on behalf of Christine Mulundika and seven others who included UNIP President, Cde. Kenneth Kaunda. -The eight were charged with the contravention of the Public Order Act by attending what the state had alleged was an illegal rally in Chongwe, 40 kilometres east of Lusaka, last year in February. The Supreme Court noted that the Public Order Act was intended to enable the police to regulate public meetings, assemblies and procedures. It said that the police could still perform this function even without the need for organisers to obtain a police permit as long as the police were notified. The Supreme Court said the provision of the Act had been used to deny permission on grounds that have nothing to do with securing public order or safety. It said there was much litigation in Zambian courts during the transition to plural politics as a result of denials of permits on spurious grounds. The Right Assemble and Speak is too important to be conditioned upon sub-section 4 as conceived and first drafted in 1953, the-court said. The Supreme Court disagreed with senior state advocate Abdulaziz Krinaliwala that there would be chaos GO AHEAD: The Right to Assemble and Speak is too important to require a permit in Zambia if the requirement to obtain a permit to assemble was done away with. The court observed that by ruling section 5(4) unconstitutional, the police and other authorities can no longer deny Zambian citizens their freedom to assemble and speak. "The requirement of a prior permit is a left-over from the days of her Majesty's governors and the British themselves do not require permission to assemble and speak. Why do-we require it?" Asked Justice Ngulube. The court decided to allow the appeal without costs, saying the criminal case emanating from the surbodinate court had raised very important public constitutional issues which were of general benefit. ZIANA-REUTER. T R The Zimbabwe News magazine is printed I Jongwe Printing & Publishing Company Private Limited ZIMBABWE NEWS

Iraq --five years after the Gulf War By Leon Barkho AGHDAD no longer displays many Btraces of the Gulf War bombs that fell five years ago. But an exhibition of war damage, the unrestored Amiriya Shelter where an allied bombing killed hundreds and the grinding poverty of millions of Iraqis assure that no one can forget'the Mother Of All Battles. Communication centres, bridges, skyscrapers, refineries and power stations levelled in the US-led allied bombing raids that began at 2.30 am January 17 (January 16 in the US) were quickly repaired. Today, beside each rebuilt edifice stands either a poster or a bronze statue of President Saddam Hussein, raising his arm in victory. "The upright have reconstructed what was destroyed by the ungodly," reads a banner at an exhibit installed in an ancient building overlooking the Tigris River. Visitors to the Steadfastness and Confrontation Exhibition can view hundreds of glossy pictures and maquettes - one set displaying the extent of damage to each site and another showing how Iraqi engineers restored it. Chlorinated water today reaches every house and power-cuts are rare in this city of five million people. Petrol apd other oil products are cheaper than water - in part because the Unit- The Mother of All Battles is continuing - Iraqi president ed Nations bars Iraqi oil exports under the Gulf War sanctions imposed for Iraqi's invasion of Kuwait. Iraqis can choose among four television channels - and there was a public outcry when the Shebab (Youth) channel, run by President Saddam's eldest son Uday, went off the air for 24 hours because of a technical fault in January. Tens of thousands of football-crazy Ira- There is but one China C HINESE Premier Cde. Li Peng warned last January that any attempt to separate arch-rival Taiwanfrom China would fail, the XINHUA news agency said. Any attempt to put the interests of Taiwanese compatriots against the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole is doomed to failure, XINHUA quoted Cde. Li as saying. "There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of it," Li said in a speech in Beijing to mark the first anniversary of an eight-point proposal for reunification by President and Communist Party Chief Cde. Jiang Zemin. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 "wVhatever changes might occur in the why in which the leadership in Taiwan is chosen,,they cannot change the fact that Taiwan is a part of China and its leaders are only leaders of a region in China," Cde. Li said, referring to Taiwan's Presidential elections due in March. "it will lead nowhere if some people attempt to use the change of Taiwan leaders as an excuse to put their separatist activities in a legal guise," Cde. Li explained. He added that any foreign anti-Chinese power that tries to use it as a pretext to interfere in China's internal affairs will also be firmly opposed by the Chinese Government and all the Chinese people. ZIANA-REUTER. El qis cram the Shaab Stadium twice a week to watch league matches and millions are said to take part in the football pools. Shop windows in Baghdad's thoroughfares display chandeliers, Japanese household utensils, refrigerators, electric ovens and aircoolers. Grocers have a variety of foreigu foodstuffs for sale ranging from Fren'th cheese and Turkish delights to pure Australian honey - but not many Iraqis can afford them. "Life proceeds smoothly in Iraq but only for those who are privileged enough to have the money," said a UN relief official. "Gulf War Sanctions have dividedthe Iraqi society into a minority of haves and a majority of have-nots and perhaps nothing in-between." In state-run hospitals, patients are told to bring their blankets, spoons, saucers and, lately also their food. Medicine has to be bought from pharmacists at spotmarket rates. "The Mother Of All Battles is continuIng", declared President Saddam Hussein in a Cabinet address early January. He said the UN trade sanctions imposed for Iraqi's invasion of Kuwait were.more harmful than the bombs dropped by the 30- state aggression during the Gulf War. Just days before the Gulf War's fifth anniversary, the Iraqi leader declared war on high prices and.inflation. He assured the nation that victory this time would also be on his side. However, Iraqi leaders are striving to check hyperinflation which Viktor Wahroos, deputy UN relief coordinator in Baghdad, calls the number one enemy for Iraq. The inflation, which the UN puts at 5 000 percent for essential items, has driven millions of Iraqis to below poverty level. Government wages, Wahlroos said, bought almost nothing at a time when five million Iraqis relied on them for survival. And there is one constant reminder of one of the bitterest memories of five years ago: the allied bombing of the Amiriya Shelter in which 403 people were burnt to death. Amiriya is the only devasted edifice the Iraqis chose not to reconstruct, preferring to preserve it for posterity as a monument to the horrors of war. REUTER E E

The world's hot spots High infant mortality rates and scant global trade are among the signs that a country could be on the verge of collapse, says a new CIA report designed to alert leaders of impending world crises. Obtained by US News and World Report and published in its February 12 edition, the CIA study lists Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Turkey among the most atrisk countries. The study was commissioned by Vice President Al Gore, who wanted to identify hot spots so that policy makers could prepare or global flare-ups, according to. US News. The State Failure Task Force study identified high infant mortality rates as the best predictor of instability: It also found that democracies generally encountered lower risks of state failures. The opposite was true of autocracies.' However, the report found that poor democracies are less stable than poor AT RISK: Zambian and Malawian Presidents, Cdes. F Chiluba (above) and B. Muluzi (belosi non- democracies. It revealed that poor democracies that do not improve living conditions are particularly vulnerable: the magazine. said. "A large 9hare of young adults, or a youth bulge, increases the risk of ethhic - conflict because that slice of the population is readily drafted into action," the report said. The report associated a low level of trade openness with mass killings because nations who engage in scant foreign trade are Unlikely to be of great concern to the international community, the magazine said. In conducting the study,, the task force looked at 113 cases of state failure, which was defined as mass killings, ethnic wars or disruptive changes to a regime, between 1955 and 1994. It then created models that predicted state failure in the past examples with roughly 70 percent accuracy. Other countries mentioned in the at-risk category were Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Central African Republic, Haiti, Kirghizstan, Madagscar, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Zambia. The CIA however, requested the home country not be included. ZIANA-AFP[]

N an interview with the Editor of the Sunday Mail, the President, Cde. Robert IMugabe disclosed disturbing truths which confirm what we have repeatedly been pointing in the past The first truth is that this country has tation of everything foreign is reflected been stalked by the International Mone- in the current dependency syndrome tary Fund (IMF) for victimisation since where every development programme the attainment of independence in 1980. is supposed to be funded by foreign "We had to educate every child", Presi- "donors". dent Mugabe said, "and they (the IMF) investment capital is normally accumusaid there was no way we could edu- lated through domestic savings. Our cate everybody. We rejected that." people cannot accumulate domestic savPresident Mugabe went on to state that ings because of their penchant for buythe IMF now "want us to cut our budg- ing gaudy foreign goods. Uncontrolled et radically in circumstances of hard- consumption of non- essential foreign ships. Our people have had years of products is &benefit to foreign exportdrought, so we have said they should ers that stifles domestic industry. Peotake these circumstances into account pie have no one to blame except them... We all agree that where a civil serv- selves when their consumption habits ice is too large, it must be reduced. But, are conditioned to foreign manufactured these people (retrenchees).will be going goods at the expense of their own into the streets. How will they manage domestic products. with their domestic problems, some of The habit of looking across one's bordwhich have been intensified by retrench- ers for domestic requirements dovetails ment? They must keep their children in with the ideology of the IMF which school, pay hospital fees, et cetera. destabilises local industrialisation Interference programmes. The IMF is an institution The government of Zimbabwe, like any for the propagation of a conducive enother sovereign government, has the vironment for goods manufactured in sole prerogative to decide on what the industrialised West and nothing else. course of public policy is best suited for Parastatals the promotion of the interests of its The second truth exposed by President citizens. The IMF and its sponsors know Mugabe concerns modalities for the this very well. Why, then should the IMF commercialisation of parastatals. Presipersist in its interference into the macro- dent Mugabe talked of the necessity for economic management of this country? profitability in the parastatals. Their viaOur government has bent itself back- bility was to be achieved by turning wards to accommodate the wishes of these organisations into commercial enthe IMF by making numerous reaction- terprises. Turning a parastatal into a ary concessions among which was the commercial enterprise does not mean its adoption of ESAP, removal of subsidies, privatisation. It just means that the corporate tax reductions, removal of ex- parastatal must stand on its own change controls, et cetera. As the Presi- through management on commercial dent says, these unpalatable conces- lines. sions resulted in the exacerbation of eco- "We have enunciated that policy but nomic hardships for the majority of our what do you get?", asked President people. A point has been reached at Mugabe. He went on to reveal that civil which further reactionary concessions servants who were in charge of the cannot be made without jeopardising parastatals misinterpreted government our people's faith in their government policy and implemented the IMF ideoland its leadership. ogy of privatisation. They sold governIt is now time that Zimbabweans should ment shares to themselves and their learn and practise the-philosophy of self- friends. In some of the parastatals where reliance. Our people have been adopt- the government had a controlling share, ing the self-paralysing habit of copying the selling of shares without authority the life styles of foreigners to the detri- left the government with as little as 11 ment of self-reliance. This negative imi- percent of total shares. "'An even that 11 percent", President Mugabe complained, "the civil servants wanted to sell without our authority and I was very angry with those who wanted to do so. It's terrible! I had hoped that measures have been taken against those who were guilty of selling those shares without government authority but no measures were taken by the Ministry. I am surprised because I was assured that measures would be taken." It is inconceivable that civil servants and their supervising Ministers would make the President "angry" and make him feel "terrible" by not informing him of their intention to disregard government policy regarding the reorganisation of parastatals. As head of both the government and the State, our Executive President is ultimately held accountable for any negative consequences of public policies. The deliberate omission to inform the President is a despicable act of indiscipline by a disloyal clique that seeks to sabotage government programmes and to distort ZANU PF's policies in the interests of its enemies. In this column, we have maintained on previous occasions that the majority of civil servants do not care for the upholding of ZANU PF policies and regard themselves as departmental potentates not accountable to any'interests other than their own and those of their foreign masters. The government is the creation of ZANU PF and civil servants are mere agents for the implementtion of ZANU PF policies. Civil servants who deliberately flout policies of the ruling party should be fired without further ado. More than 90 percent of this country's economy is in the hands of foreigners and their local running dogs: the compradore bourgeoisie. The majority of our top civil servants have been married to neo-colonial policies of the IMF and the West. These reactionary forces combine in an unholy alliance to impoverish the majority of our people by implementing capitalist policies against the wishes of the indigenous population A ruthless struggle should be waged against them. Ministerial responsibilities The third truth revealed by the President is the fact that there are some governContinued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 2 IN ieN point

Africa Cup of imbabwe's Warriors have been drawn against Angola, Ghana and Sudan in Group One of the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations Cup qualifiers. The draw, conducted during this year's Africa Nations Cup finals in South Africa by the Confederation of African Football will see Zimbabwe, standby hosts, play two of the 1996 finalists (Angola and Ghana) to decide who will feature in the 1998 finals in Burkina Faso. However, should Burkina Faso fail to meet the standards required by CAF in hosting the tournament, Zimbabwe will automatically take over and immediately qualify as host nation. Below is the full CAF draw: President's shocking statement Continued from previous page ment Ministers who do not perform their duties well. The President asserted that he has "a very good Cabinet". But, he also admitted: "It's not everybody who is a doer. I know which doer I have, on whom I can rely upon to do, to perform." Diplomatic imperatives compelled the President to refrain from mentioning the names of Ministers who are not "doers" but was candid enough to admit that he knows the Ministers upon whom he can rely for good performance. in this column, we ask the President why he keeps in his Cabinet those Ministers who are not "doers", who cannot be relied upon by the Head of Government? Are they too powerful to be placed on the chopping block? If so, where does their influence come from since they are not "'doers"? President Mugabe is head and shoulders above the rest as the popular choice of the electorate to head the Government of Zimbabwe. He is therefore not subject to the whims, fears and favours of a particular interest group or constituency. The public expects him to hire and fire any Cabinet Minister who does not perform to his satisfaction. This is in the interest of the nation and constitutes his sacred duty to the electorate. When the President keeps "non-doers" in his Cabinet, the nation should be aroused to urge him to place them on the chopping block in the public interest. E Nations drai Group Three (Egypt, Ethiopia, Mor Senegal): Egypt vs Morocco, Octob Ethiopia vs Senegal, October 6; Moroc Ethiopia, January 26, 1997; Seneg Egypt, January 26, 1997; Ethiopia vs E February 24, 1997; Senegal vs Morc February 24, 1997; Morocco vs Egypt, 22, 1997; Senegal vs Ethiopia, June 1997; Egypt vs Senegal, July 12, 1Ethiopia vs Morocco, July 14, 1997; E vs Ethiopia, July 26" 1997; Morocc Senegal, July 28, 1997. Group four (Burundi or Central Af Republic, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Tun Tunisia vs Sierrs Leone, October 5; Bi di or Central African Republic vs Guinea tober 6; Sierra Leone vs Burundi or Ce African Republic, January 25, 1997; Gi vs Tunisia, January 26, 1997; Burun Central African Republic vs Tunisia, Fi ary 24, 1997; Guinea vs Sierra LE February 24, 1997; Sierra Leone vs Tv June 21, 1997; Guinea vs Burundi o, tral African Republic, June 22, 1 Tunisia vs Guinea, July 13, 1997; Bui or Central African Republic vs Sierra LE July 14, 1997; Sierra Leone vs Guinea, Abedi Pele Ayew is likely to be missing in the Black Stars line-up when Zimbabwe play Ghana in the Africa Cup qualifiers Mauritius vs Seychelles; Congo vs Togo; Botswana vs Namibia; Benin vs Mauritania; Central African Republic vs Burundi. The matches will be played over two legs with the team mentioned first playing at home in the first leg. The first leg will be played on the weekend of August 9 - 11 with the return leg on the weekend of August 23 - 25. The winners will proceed to the group phase. First round: Group One (Angola. Ghana. 'Sudan. Zimbabwe): Ghana vs Angola, October 5; Sudan vs Zimbabwe, October 6; Angola vs Sudan, January 26, 1997; Zimbabwe v Ghana, January 26, 1997; Sudan vs Ghana, February 24, 1997; Zimbabwe vs Angola, February 24, 1997; Angola vs Ghana, June 22, 1997; Zimbabwe vs Sudan, June 22, 1997; Ghana vs Zimbabwe, July 13, 1997; Sudan vs Angola, July 14, 1997; Ghana vs Sudan, July 27, 1997; Angola vs Zimbabwe, July 27, 1997. Group Two (Algeria, Ivory Coast, Mall. winner Benin vs Mauritania): Algeria vs Ivory Coast, October 4; Benin or Mauritania vs Mali, October 6; Ivory Coast vs Benin or Mauritania, January 26, 1997; Mali vs Algeria, January 26, 1997; Benin or Mauritania vs Algeria, February 24, 1997; Mali vs Ivory Coast, February 24, 1997; Mali vs Benin or Mauritania, June 22, 1997; Ivory coast vs Algeria, June 22, 1997; Algeria vs Mali, July 12, 1997; Benin or Mauritania vs Ivory Coast, July 14, 1997; Algeria vs Benin or Mauritania, July 26, 1997; Ivory Coast vs Mali, July 26, 1997 z I 1 /; I Unisiai v, BurulUl Ui .U .la can Republic, July27, 1997. Group five (Botswana or Namibla, Cmii roon, Gabon, Kenyal: Botswana or Nami vs Kenya, October 6; Gabon vs Cameroi October 6; Kenya vs Gabon, January] 1997; Cameroon vs Botswana or Namit January 26, 1997; Kenya vs Cameroi February 23, 1997; Botswana or Nami vs Gabon, February 24, 1997; Kenya Botswana or Namibia, June 21, 19! Cameroon vs Gabon, June 22, 1997; 8 swana or Namibia vs Cameroon, July 1997; Gabon vs Kenya, July 14, 19! Cameroon vs Kenya, July 28, 1997; Gat vs Botswana or Namibia; July 28, 19E Group six (Congo or Togo. Liberia, Tai nia, Zaire): Congo or Togo vs Tanzania, I tober 6; Zaire vs Liberia, October 6; Tan nia vs Zaire, January 25, 1997; Liberia Congo or Togo, January 26, 1997; Tan nia vs Liberia. February 23, 1997; Congi Togo vs Zaire, February 24, 1997; Tar nia vs Congo or Togo. June 21, 1997; LI is vs Zaire, June 22, 1997; Congo or T( vs Liberia, July 14, 1997; Liberia vs T zania, July 28, 1997; Zaire vs Congc Togo, July 28, 1997. Group seven (Mauritius -or Seyclhe Malawi, Mozambique. Zambia): Zambie Mozambique, October 5; Mauritius Seychelles vs Malawi, October 6; Malaw Zambia, January 25, 1997; Mozambiqul Mauritius or Seychelles, January 26, 19 Malawi vs Mozambique, February 23, 19 Mazuritius or Seychelles vs Zambia, Fet ary 24, 1997; Malawi vs Mauritius Seychelles, June 21, 1997; Mozambiqui Zambia, June 22,1997; Zambia vs Male July 13, 1997; Mauritius or Seychelles Mozambique, July 14, 1997; Zambia Mauritius or Seychelles, July 27, i Mozambique vs Malawi, July 28, 199 The top two teams in each group qualifv the finals, along with hosts Burkina Faso holders South Africa. ZIANA-REUTER. ZIMBABV

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